The Danish Supreme Court has ordered a 35 year old unemployed man to forfeit an amount of over $38,000 that he had won while playing online poker.

The Copenhagen Post reported that the unnamed man had been playing online poker professionally and that it is illegal to earn a living from gambling in Denmark. The fact that the games are run from outside Denmark is irrelevant due to the fact that the computers are used from within the country and therefore subject to local regulations.

As the money had been won over the course of a year and the man had no other source of income it resulted in the court ruling that he had broken laws with regard to earning a living from gambling.

Although he was also fined $979 for illegal professional gambling, the good news for the accused is that The Supreme Court quashed this fine that had been given by the Eastern High Court when he was originally convicted in November. According to the Court this was done as they were uncertain whether the law covered online poker.

Danish online newspaper prosecutors have stated that the State does not outlaw online gambling and that each case would be decided upon whether a player is playing professionally or not.

According to another newspaper report there are approximately 50,000 Danes playing online poker.

One long-time organizer of poker tournaments was found guilty by the Eastern High Court in June of the same charge and the Supreme Court conceded that online competitions was not covered by this decision.