50 Horses

What is 50 Horses?

In April, a federal jury sided with Skillz (now operating as Firy Inc.) on its claims that Papaya deceived consumers by utilizing computer bots in its head-to-head mobile games.

Three months later, Judge Denise Cote ordered Papaya to pay Skillz $719 million in damages for poaching players from its skill gaming platform on the belief that Papaya had more players and therefore facilitated considerably faster peer-to-peer pairing times.

Papaya, headquartered in Israel, quickly secured a temporary stay of proceedings from the Tel Aviv District Court and filed a Chapter 15 petition with Delaware’s U.S. Bankruptcy Court. The Chapter 15 petition seeks to prevent Skillz from initiating collection efforts until its appeals play out.

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Data Protection Commissioner Maria Christofidou said her office had reevaluated a 2022 legal opinion and now recognised a potential legal basis for more granular access to banking information.

Various MPs voiced concerns about the risk of privacy violations in accessing this data, and the potential social stigma around the information being shared.

Christofidou also floated the idea of issuing GMI recipients with a special card for in-person verification at gambling venues, but several MPs warned this could stigmatise welfare recipients.

What is 50 Horses?

Wiesbaden’s higher slot machine tax will stay in force after the Hessian Higher Administrative Court in Kassel upheld the city’s move to raise the rate from 5% to 7.5% from 1 January 2024. 

According to the court’s statement, the judges rejected challenges from gaming hall operators and said the city’s public decision was legally sound. 

The ruling preserved a revenue measure the city says was designed to bring in up to €1 million according to the court’s own summary.