The Senate of Hamburg, Germany decided in its sitting of May 28, 2002 that Spielbank Hamburg is legalized to operate online, "live" roulette. The casino group is ready to go live, but has yet to take an online bet.
Spielbank Hamburg is owned by managing shareholder Prof. Wilfried Achterfeld, along with John Jahr (from the family of the famous publishing company Gruner & Jahr) and Klaus Unge. The group has operated the prestigious land-based Spielbank in Hotel InterContinental since1978.
Operated from a bunker of sorts close to the InterContinental hotel, the Web site, www.spielbank-hamburg.de, shows a live roulette will via three Web-cams with varying angles. Players can participate and watch via double-secured online connections. The server, the software and the data are maintained by e-dict GmbH & Co. KG, a property of Spielbank Hamburg. The system, operational daily between 3 p.m. and 3 a.m., has been in a testing mode for three years.
The "entrance" of the casino looks simple: Each new player has to hand a copy of his identity card and give the information of a credit card (Visa, Euro/MasterCard) to personnel of the brick and mortar Spielbank in Hamburg.
It is still unknown when the wheel will be turned for the real money.