Austria's Poker Casinos at the End?

Local poker scene unsettled

In the Austrian poker scene, rumors about the possible closure of the Concord Card Casinos are currently boiling over: at the beginning of the month it was said that the poker casinos would have to close their doors at the end of the year. The Viennese daily newspaper courier headlined that “Austria’s poker paradise is on the verge of extinction”. Company founder Peter Zanoni is said to have informed his senior employees that the closure was actually to be expected.

The report caused a stir because many insiders see the end of the poker casinos as also the end for private poker providers in Austria. The reason for the closure is, among other things, a change in the law from 2013. This stipulates that from 2020 poker in Austria may only be played in licensed casinos of the state-owned Austria brand. Peter Zanoni's license therefore expires on December 31, 2019. Zanoni currently operates 12 casinos in Austria, 11 of which are run under the name Concord Card Casino, plus the Montesino in Vienna. Online poker as an alternative is currently not being discussed.

Vienna locations are important

The two Vienna locations in particular are known for their poker tournaments, in which many celebrities have taken part in the past, for example Boris Becker, Pamela Anderson, EAV frontman Klaus Eberhartinger and the Canadian poker star Daniel Negreanu. Montesino, which is considered one of the most important poker locations in Europe, has also hosted two of the largest poker tournament series ever, the European Poker Tour (EPT) and the World Poker Tour (WPT). A dealer from CCC Vienna was also recruited for the James Bond film “Casino Royale”. German casinos, who organize poker tournaments, have not yet been able to keep up with this.

Will the gates remain open?

However, according to the latest developments, the fate of the casino chain does not seem to be completely sealed yet: In order to clarify his point of view, owner Zanoni surprisingly invited people to one Press conference in Vienna (11.11.) a. The topic was the current “situation of freelance poker casinos”. Contrary to all press reports and rumors, Zanoni announced that the venues will also be open in 2020. The “legal matter for monopoly enforcement is not applicable,” is the credo of the Vienna poker king. But how does Zanoni want to take action against the legal situation?

Complaint to the Constitutional Court

With regard to poker, Zanoni consequently calls for a “union law coherence check” of the new gambling legislation in Austria. In order to substantiate its legal position, a further complaint has been filed with the Constitutional Court (VfGH), and we also plan to lodge an appeal with the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In addition, Zanoni wants to lobby members of the National Council for a corresponding change in the law in the future. Specifically, it is initially about an “extension of the transition period” and a “clarification of the fee law”.

Casino chain is bankrupt

However, the expiring poker license is not Zanoni's only problem, because it has been clear since last May at the latest: Austria's largest poker casino chain is insolvent. The bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the credit protection associations AKV (Alpine Creditors Association) and Creditreform. The reason is tax debts of around 203 million euros, with a bank balance of merely around 572,000 euros.

As Stephan Mazal (Creditreform) says, the Austrian tax authorities have submitted a total of four bankruptcy applications to the Ministry of Finance, three of which are already being negotiated. The group's equity ratio would amount to a minus of an exorbitant 5,472 percent. In 2017 alone, the “negative equity” was 6000 ₹ 30. The accumulated loss was recently put at 131.26 million euros, which at the same time underlines the serious development.

Years of clinch with the authorities

According to his own statements, Peter Zanoni has been in legal disputes with the Austrian authorities for over 20 years. In the run-up to the current bankruptcy proceedings, Zanoni had recently lost all proceedings pending at the Austrian Administrative Court (VwGH) from 2017. Most recently, at the beginning of May, there was a court case in Vorarlberg, according to which a war victims' levy for his CCC casino there amounting to 97.6 million euros was due. According to information from the AKV, Peter Zanoni was already involved in a major insolvency with CBA Spielapparate – und Restaurationsbetriebs GmbH.

In this case too, the tax demands of the so-called Finanzprokuratur – essentially the law firm of the Austrian Ministry of Finance – were the decisive factor in the bankruptcy. For years, Zanoni has seen himself as a victim of high taxes; his business model is threatened by “sometimes enormous taxes.” A video on the topic was published on the company's own YouTube channel “Concord Poker TV” at the beginning of the week.

Although around 600 employees are now worried about their jobs, the business operations of the poker casinos have so far remained unaffected by the debates: just a month ago, the CCC Vienna celebrated its 26th anniversary. The satellites and the Phase 1 tournaments for the Concord Million (November 28th - 10th, 2012), the highlight of the local poker year, went according to plan. It remains to be seen what the situation will be with the poker locations from January onwards.