The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) said on 23 October 2026 that the €77.6m Platincasino tax loss alleged by Frankfurt prosecutors for 2024 equals 36.3% of the tax the entire legal virtual slot market paid that year.
The association set the figure against about €213.5m in virtual slot tax collected from licensed operators in 2024, in an analysis published on its website. It called the case the first time a figure from the illegal market can be compared directly with an official legal-market statistic.
The Platincasino tax loss
The Frankfurt Public Prosecutor’s Office searched 11 properties, mainly in Frankfurt, on 8 September and arrested one main suspect, according to Hessian public broadcaster hr. Prosecutors allege the platforms took about €5.86bn in stakes from July 2021 to the end of 2023 without a German licence, and seized assets worth about €82m.
Prosecutors put the alleged gambling tax shortfall for 2024 at €77.6m. The DSWV identified the operator under investigation as Platincasino. Five people are suspects in the case, which remains under investigation.
The DSWV said its comparison measures tax against tax, so it does not depend on estimating stakes or gross gaming revenue (GGR). The 36.3% figure compares tax amounts and is not a market-share estimate for Platincasino.
The GGL black market estimate
A study published in March 2026 by Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the German States (GGL) put the illegal share of online GGR at about 23%, leaving 77% to licensed operators. The DSWV argued that GGR understates illegal activity: unlicensed sites pay no tax, can return more to players and so book lower GGR on the same stakes.
The GGL identified 212 illegal operators running 858 German-language websites in 2024, according to the DSWV. Those operators do not report business data to the regulator, which relies on estimates to size them.
The association cited two studies with higher figures. The Handelsblatt Research Institute put the illegal share of German online gambling above 50%, and at 70% to 80% for online casino and virtual slots. A study by economist Gunther Schnabl, based on time spent on gambling websites, put it at about half.
The DSWV said the case must serve as a “litmus test” for earlier black market estimates.
Next steps
The DSWV called on the GGL to explain how the Frankfurt findings fit its calculations. It wants the answer in the current evaluation of the State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV), which Article 32 requires to examine how regulation affects the spread of illegal gambling. The treaty took effect on 1 July 2021. The GGL is also seeking faster powers against illegal operators.
Source: German Sports Betting Association (DSWV)
