Gambling Laws in the Netherlands

It is legal to gamble in the Netherlands, and this industry is regulated by a state monopoly known as the Holland Casino that is in charge with legalizing all the betting that occurs in the Netherlands. Here, the casinos are known as Fair Play Centers. This is a way of the state monopoly indicating to gamblers that all the casinos promote fair gambling policies under their jurisdiction.

In the Netherlands, online gambling has been banned to the point that the Dutch Supreme court has passed rulings warning foreign online bookmakers from taking bets from any citizen of the Netherlands. This is in the interest of preventing the social problems that can result from gambling such as money laundering. Their restrictions have extended to sports gambling. However, there is betting on Dutch horse racing, and there are a number of major lotteries in operation.

Change in Netherland online gambling regulations

While this has been the case so far, the Netherlands is now set to allow online gambling from 2015. This will be open to non – governmental competitors. This places Holland Casino out of the game and will allow the gambling market in the Netherlands to expand.

To be allowed to participate in online gambling market, candidates will be allowed to apply for a license at a 20% tax rate, which is lower than the 29% tax rate paid by Holland casino. The applicants will face stringent rules and regulations. One of the rules is the mandatory contribution towards a fund for problem gamblers. It also requires players found breaking self – imposed wagering limits to be reported to a national register that will see them banned from playing in any online gaming site licensed in the Netherlands.

New regulations affecting Holland Casino licensed gaming operators

In addition to the licensing of online gambling, regulations have been put in place that licensed operators have to follow, to be able to run online gambling in the Netherlands. One of these regulations insists that these operators highlight the risks associated with gambling to their players in any advertisement material that they produce. They will also be expected to moderate a player’s time by issuing regular warnings and limiting the time they are allowed to play.

In addition to this, there are requirements that casino owners maintain a national register of banned players, and contribute to a fund that supports gambling addicts to change their ways. These regulations are in the spirit of preventing the prevalence of gambling addiction, to prevent criminal activity and to protect gamblers from issues like fraud.

All these are proposed measures that are under scrutiny at present. There is room for stakeholder to comment on the viability of the regulations, before they are officially passed for the commencement of online gambling in 2015. If all goes well, most casino games will be legalized, but betting on non sports event will not. In addition, transfer of fund between players will not be allowed and promotion tools aimed at particular gambling patterns will not be accepted. They require that remote gambling operators have a separate account for the player’s funds to prevent money laundering.

This is an outline of Netherland gambling laws in the past and the development of Netherland gambling laws at present.