{"id":4247,"date":"2020-08-24T11:53:30","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T11:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/?p=4247"},"modified":"2020-08-24T11:53:30","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T11:53:30","slug":"german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","title":{"rendered":"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer&#8217;s Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg\" alt=\"Steffen Sontheimer\" title=\"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer's Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings\" width=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2034\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg 380w, https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer-300x197.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 380px) 100vw, 380px\">One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed due to perceived \u201cgambling-related\u201d activity, and the latest player to fall victim to this is <strong>Steffen \u201c<em>RunGo0sseRun<\/em>\u201d Sontheimer<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>The German high-stakes pro revealed on Twitter that Commerzbank had shut down his business account mainly because of the country\u2019s strict stance against gambling. <\/p>\n<center>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When you do it professionally, Poker is not a game of luck, so you gotta pay taxes on that in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>Good that I get a call from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/commerzbank?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@commerzbank<\/a> this morning that they cancel my business account, because they don\u2019t support gamblerelated stuff.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/feelingwelcome?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#feelingwelcome<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Steffen Sontheimer (@RunGo0seRun) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RunGo0seRun\/status\/1296010059013652480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/p><\/center>   \n<p>Online gambling is prohibited in Germany, and whether or not poker falls in that category has long been a legal gray area. The country\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cms-lawnow.com\/ealerts\/2020\/04\/german-gambling-regulation-according-to-the-draft-interstate-treaty-on-gambling-202\">Interstate Treaty on Gambling<\/a> does not currently have a licensing procedure for online casino and poker. Thus, online operators, for many years, have been banned from serving local customers, forcing players to move to other countries or shift to offshore sites in order to play, but this does not mean authorities wouldn\u2019t chase after them. <\/p>\n<p>While many other EU countries have already established clear laws that provide for a licensing system for online operators, in Germany Schleswig-Holstein is currently the only state offering licenses. Following pressure from the EU, the country is finally revisiting its gambling laws, with changes expected in 2021.   <\/p>\n<p>Until these changes take effect, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/blog\/germans-dominate-list-of-who-made-most-money-from-live-poker-in-2017\">German professional poker players<\/a> will have to brace for similar bank problems, as some financial institutions are still choosing to impose a blanket ban on all online gambling practices, including poker, to avoid being called out for breaking the law, something the poker community has strongly criticized.  <\/p>\n<p>Sontheimer is one of the world\u2019s most accomplished poker pros, with over $13.7 million in live tournament earnings. The German pro currently ranks sixth in his home country, and his biggest live cash came from his victory in the <em>$250,000 No Limit Hold\u2019em \u2013 Super High Roller Championships<\/em> during the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party in 2018 where he won $3,685,000 in top prize.  <\/p>\n<h2 id=\"top-poker-players-face-similar-problems\">Top Poker Players Face Similar Problems<\/h2>\n<p>In July, <strong>Daniel Negreanu<\/strong> also reported that his business account with Bank of America had been terminated without no proper explanation. The former All-Time Money List leader also cried foul for not being given the opportunity to appeal and explain his side. He maintained that his account did not show any signs of abnormal or unscrupulous activity and that all of the money he had put into the account came from poker.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/doug-polk-challenges-daniel-negreanu-to-a-grudge-heads-up-match\">Doug Polk<\/a> also encountered a similar issue back in 2015 when around 700-800K of his money was frozen without proper notice from the bank. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed due to perceived \u201cgambling-related\u201d activity, and the latest player to fall victim to this is Steffen \u201cRunGo0sseRun\u201d Sontheimer. The German high-stakes pro revealed on Twitter that Commerzbank had shut down his business account mainly&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>German Pro Steffen Sontheimer&#039;s Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer&#039;s Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Top 10 Poker Sites\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Stefan Nedeljkovic\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Stefan Nedeljkovic\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings\",\"name\":\"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer's Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b64f7504239fd8050e79dd3027bb2390\"},\"description\":\"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg\",\"width\":380,\"height\":250},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Top 10 Poker Sites\",\"description\":\"Top 10 Poker Sites\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b64f7504239fd8050e79dd3027bb2390\",\"name\":\"Stefan Nedeljkovic\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1eb39f8dcef71aa884cdaf6d96b79d25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1eb39f8dcef71aa884cdaf6d96b79d25?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Stefan Nedeljkovic\"},\"description\":\"Stefan nicknamed \\\"El Kepa\\\" he has been a passionate gamer and online poker player for more than fifteen years after realising Biology was no longer his thing...\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/elkepa\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stefan-nedeljkovic-655a211b2\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/author\/stefan-nedeljkovic\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer's Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings","description":"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer's Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings","og_description":"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..","og_url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","og_site_name":"Top 10 Poker Sites","article_published_time":"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg"}],"author":"Stefan Nedeljkovic","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Stefan Nedeljkovic","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings","name":"German Pro Steffen Sontheimer's Bank Account Closed Due To Poker Winnings","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg","datePublished":"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-24T11:53:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b64f7504239fd8050e79dd3027bb2390"},"description":"One of the many challenges professional poker players have to deal with in their career is having their bank accounts closed.. find out why here..","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/german-pro-steffen-sontheimers-bank-account-closed-due-to-poker-winnings#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2017\/12\/steffen-sontheimer.jpg","width":380,"height":250},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/","name":"Top 10 Poker Sites","description":"Top 10 Poker Sites","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/b64f7504239fd8050e79dd3027bb2390","name":"Stefan Nedeljkovic","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1eb39f8dcef71aa884cdaf6d96b79d25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1eb39f8dcef71aa884cdaf6d96b79d25?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Stefan Nedeljkovic"},"description":"Stefan nicknamed \"El Kepa\" he has been a passionate gamer and online poker player for more than fifteen years after realising Biology was no longer his thing...","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/elkepa\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/stefan-nedeljkovic-655a211b2\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/author\/stefan-nedeljkovic"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.top10pokersites.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}