Spiele mit Gewinnmöglichkeit - Unbedenklichkeitsbescheinigung

• § 33d Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO) (Other games with the possibility of winning)
• § 33e Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO) (type approval and clearance certificate)
• § 60a Trade, Commerce and Industry Regulation Act (GewO) (Organization of games)

If you want to organize commercial games with the possibility of winning (e.g. games of skill), you need a permit from the responsible authority. To obtain this permit, you must submit a clearance certificate from the Federal Criminal Police Office. You must apply for this.

The clearance certificate is issued to the manufacturer of a game if it is a gaming device that is produced in series. He will then receive a copy of the clearance certificate for each replica of the gaming device. In all other cases, it is issued to the organizer of the game. The clearance certificate contains the following information:

• Name of the game
• Company name and registered office of the manufacturer or name, date of birth, place of birth and place of residence of the game organizer
• Description of the game and the course of the game, if necessary with illustrations and general drawings
• Rules of the game and prize schedule
• List of places where you are allowed to organize the game
• period of validity of the clearance certificate
• any ancillary provisions

Note: Clearance certificates can also be issued for a limited period or subject to conditions.

Requirements:

The competent body can only issue a clearance certificate if the game to be checked is a game of skill and not a game of chance. A game of skill exists if, according to the gaming device and the rules of the game, the player can determine the outcome of the game with a high degree of probability through skill.

If the gaming device is to be mass-produced, it must be ensured that the replicas conform to the sample tested by the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The clearance certificate will be refused if

• there is a risk that the player will suffer unreasonably high losses in a short period of time, or
• the game can be operated as an unauthorized game of chance within the meaning of Section 284 of the Criminal Code (StGB) by modifying the conditions of the game or by modifying the gaming equipment by simple means. This is particularly the case if
  • the game is a card, dice or ball game derived from a game of chance within the meaning of Section 284 of the Criminal Code, or
  • the game cannot be operated economically according to the conditions submitted for examination.

• Game description
• Game rules
• if required by the type of game: calculation of payout and hit expectation

You may be required to submit additional documentation upon request. If the game is a gaming device, the competent body may require that you also submit a ready-to-operate device or provide the competent body with a sample of the gaming device or individual parts thereof.

The clearance certificate can be withdrawn or revoked if

• reasons subsequently become known which would have precluded its issue,
• the applicant changes the characteristics of approved gaming equipment, or
• he/she organizes a game that has been declared harmless under conditions that have not been approved.

You must submit the application for a clearance certificate in writing to the competent office. It must be signed by hand or provided with a qualified electronic signature.

The Federal Criminal Police Office decides on the application together with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt and a committee of four state criminal investigators experienced in the field of gambling.