The official opening of the first state-licensed online casino in the state of Hamburg, Germany has brought about an eruption of criticism.
The innovative initiative of the Hamburg Spielbank, which consists of live roulette webcast via two webcams, was applauded by the ailing German casino industry.
Several German states' casinos have already contacted the Hamburg Spielbank with an interest in acquired the technology. Hamburg Spielbank developed and tested the high-tech real-time Internet casino over a period of three years.
Praise aside, however, an opposition in the city hall of Hamburg is trying to stop the operation.
Two city hall political fractions, SPD and GAL, have commonly, on constitutional grounds, lodged a complaint against the Hamburg Senate. They stated three days after the opening that the Senate does not have the power to issue an online gambling license.
The two parties, concerned with the potential addictive risks of online gambling, are trying to block the casino from carrying out its online operations.
A spokesperson from the SPD fraction stated, "Via the Internet, the casino is entering the living room. Control of gambling addicts will be invisible."
The Financial Senator of Hamburg, Dr. Wolfgang Peiner of the CDU, argued that casino players already on the German blacklist can not play online. Above that, he added, the Spielbank Hamburg's sophisticated computer system is designed to identify and flag addictive behavior.
The opposition warns, however, that the red and black players are invisible and anonymous. In a real casino, the staff can see if someone drank too much and should stop playing. This isn't possible when one is playing from home, the gym club or the Internet cafe.
Otto Wulferding, the general manager of the Spielbank Hamburg organization, said the objections are exaggerated.
"I have not seen any scientific research supporting these conceptions," Wulferding said. "Our registering method is stiffer than a brick-and-mortar casino."
The AFP press agency reports there are more than 8,000 gambling addicts in treatment in Hamburg alone.
With 1.7 million inhabitants, Hamburg is the second biggest city in Germany and one of the country's 16 states. (Hamburg is a state as well as a city.)