New Dutch Gambling Policy to be Presented by March 2025

Teun Struycken, the State Secretary for Legal Protection, will present a new Dutch gambling policy to the House of Representatives by March 27, 2025. This initiative is a response to growing concerns over competition and player protection in the country’s online and land-based gambling sectors. Stick around to find out more details.

Key Issues Addressed

Struycken, who’s been in office since July 2024 and represents the New Social Contract party, has identified a need for modernization of the current regulations on the market. Based on the 2011 Dutch Remote Gambling Act, they appear outdated and unable to cope with the sector’s latest challenges.

The new policy addresses key issues in the Dutch gambling market, including market competition, player protection, addiction prevention, and taxation. The state ownership of Holland Casino has also been re-evaluated. In the following paragraphs, we’ll cover each of these aspects in more detail.

Gambling Market Competition

The revised policy aims to tackle a pressing issue with competition in the land-based gambling sector. Although the Dutch Remote Gambling Act of 2011 has successfully introduced competition among online operators, the land-based gambling market remains largely monopolized by the state-owned Holland Casino. Struycken has noted that the new Dutch gambling policy will include measures to address this issue.

Player Protection and Addiction Prevention

According to Struycken, there needs to be a clearer line drawn between different online and land-based games of chance. He believes that some of them pose a greater risk of addiction or other gambling-related harm. Online gambling, in particular, presents unique challenges due to its widespread accessibility via numerous Dutch gambling sites. Stricter guidelines must be established to ensure protection and a safe environment for players.

State Ownership of Holland Casino

The state-owned Holland Casino enterprise holds a monopoly over the land-based Dutch gambling market. Recent evaluation suggests there are pros and cons to this. On the one hand, this allows the government and Dutch Gambling authority (Kansspelautoriteit, Ksa) a certain level of control that could help keep players safe and strictly enforce the latest industry standards.

On the other hand, this obviously stifles market competition. And while the new Dutch gambling policy doesn’t seem to address this head-on, in a recent interview, Struycken said that, “The evaluation also established that the added value of shareholding is not weighty enough that further exploration of other future options would be ruled out in advance.”

Taxation and Financial Implications

Just recently, the Dutch government approved a gambling tax increase from 30.5% of GGR to 37.8%. Although the new policy by Teun Struycken doesn’t explicitly endorse or oppose this taxation hike, it does acknowledge its potential impact on the industry.

Struycken is already in discussions with Holland Casino’s management, who believe that the brand will suffer significant losses and may be required to close some of its online offerings. Other online casino operators regulated by the Dutch Gambling Authority share the same concern.

Looking Ahead

Struycken will present his vision for the future of the Dutch gambling policy to the House of Representatives by March 27, 2025. Changes are certainly needed, especially considering the dynamic nature of the gambling industry worldwide, but they should be carefully considered and implemented to be successful.

We hope that government officials will strike the right balance between healthy online and land-based competition and player protection. As the deadline approaches, stakeholders across the industry are watching closely, and so are we. We’ll keep you posted on future updates to the Dutch Remote Gambling Act and any other gambling-related legislation in the country.