Legalization of online gambling in the Netherlands

We are almost one year into the new regulated Dutch online gambling market. On the 1^st of October in 2021 the first Dutch operators got a license to offer online casino games so let’s take a look where we stand in the Netherlands!

Remote Gambling Act

 The Dutch government has been busy for years trying to create a law for online casino’s. For years online gambling was a gray area in the Netherlands and was mostly tolerated, but eventually they created the Remote Gambling Act. The Remote Gambling Act went into effect on April 1, 2021. Operators who wanted to apply for a license were now able to file an application. The Dutch government needed six months to dive into all the applications, so on October 1, 2021 the first operators got a license. Most of these operators were local and new. The only internationally well-known brand was Bet365!

The reason for this was the fact that the Dutch government gave priority to brands who never accepted Dutch players before. So brands like Betsson, Pokerstars, 888 Casino, Bwin, Betway, LeoVegas, William Hill and PlayOJO didn’t get a license. They accepted Dutch players for years while it was actually illegal according to the law. However, we can still expect these big brands in the future when they file a valid application.

At the moment de Dutch government has handed out 20 different licenses. A license is valid for 5 years and operators are under strict supervision of the Dutch government (Kansspelautoriteit).

There are different kind of licenses:

• License for horse racing
• License for sports betting
• License for (live) online casino games
• License for poker

Operators can apply for one or multiple licenses, so there is a lot of variation within the Dutch market. Therefore, it can be quite interesting to compare the different online casinos with each other. At online casino’s vergelijken you will find such a compare tool!

Advantages of a licensed online gambling market

For both the players and the governments there are some serious advantages to a licensed and legal online gambling market.

Players can enjoy a safe and secure online gambling experience. They don’t have to be afraid anymore for casinos that ignore withdrawals. Or the leakage of personal data. Besides, they can deposit money using iDEAL, the most popular payment method in the Netherlands. It’s a local payment method, so it’s not available in other countries. Depositing money has never been more secure, faster and easier since the introduction of iDEAL.

For the government there is also a significant advantage: tax income. Operators with a license pay 29,1% tax on their gross profits. With millions of euros gross profit every day, the taxes of online gambling bring a lot of money on the table for the government!

Both well-known names and new brands!

The introduction of the Remote Gambling Act has brought both well-known brands and new brands to the Dutch market. As explained 20 operators are in the possession of a license right now. Unibet, which is part of Kindred, but also Bet365 are well-known names that got a license. But there are also completely new names!

For example Kansino, a brand of Play North Ltd, was a completely new name. It is the only casino in the Netherlands with a Pay n Play system. Therefore, the online casino has been popular since day one in the Netherlands!

Other popular casinos are Holland Casino, Jack’s Casino and Fair Play Casino. Why? You might not have heard of them, but these are land based casinos. They applied for a license and now they have both a land based offer and an online offer. Players like to play at online casinos that are familiar to them.

Conclusion

After one year of a licensed online gambling market we can come to a few conclusions.

A lot of licenses have already been handed out. 20 in total. However, the government has already stated that they expect to hand out a few more. Therefore, we can conclude that the offer of online casinos has exceeded our expectations. Luckily, players have a lot to choose from!

Many players shifted from illegal to legal online casinos. Statistics show that millions of euros are made every day by licensed online casinos. Therefore, we can say that the Remote Gambling Act has been a success. Most online players shifted to a licensed operator!