The Netherlands will soon have a new government with many new plans and one of these is to open the Dutch market for online gambling. Holland Casino, in which the Dutch government now is the main stakeholder, will be sold and a new system of regulations and licences are already under developed. The main message of the new policies on gambling that will be rolled out, is that the government’s role should not be to offer gambling, but accommodate a system in which the security of people comes first.
The Liberal Party VVD said a long time ago that the Dutch model of strict government control was obsolete and that it’s impossible and undesirable to prevent Dutch citizens from partaking in online gambling while the Internet virtually knows no borders. The PvdA, the other party that will be in the Dutch cabinet, said they have no problems with people wanting to play (online) poker.
The plans for a more liberal gambling market were already put into the scaffolds by the outgoing cabinet. Last year Dutch State Secretary of Justice Fred Teeven, created the Dutch Gambling Authorities that will supervise and police the new gambling market, issue licences and prevent illegal casinos, poker and bookmakers sites from offering services on the Dutch Market. An important task for the Dutch Gambling Authorities will be to keep the online market safe – not just the web sites of bookmakers and casinos themselves, as this involves online transfer of personal data and money, but also measures that will help to prevent gambling addictions.
One of the first actions the new ‘Gambling Police’ took, was to ask bookmakers like Unibet, Bwin and Bet at Home to stop offering and aiming their online services at Dutch users, and stop active advertising on the Dutch market. They all cooperated and took their Dutch versions of their sites offline, because in doing so, their chances to set foot on the new Dutch market will increase.
Meanwhile a number of online casinos, poker and bookmaker sites are closely working together with the new Dutch Gambling Authorities, presumably in an open atmosphere. This way, the brand new Gambling Police are learning the ropes and getting a good understanding of how other countries, like Great Britain, Denmark, Belgium and Spain where gambling, poker and casino games have been regulated in different forms. In this way it must become clear whether the Netherlands should have a fully open market like in Denmark and the UK, or a more restrictive policy like in Belgium where online casino’s can only operate if they also have a brick casino or bingo hall on Belgian soil. Spain started to demand large sums of money from any gambling company wanting to operate on the Spanish market. Bwin paid up, Unibet decided to leave – which meant that football club Valencia needed to find a new shirt sponsor.
When exactly the Dutch market will open up is not clear yet, neither what form it will take. Sure it’s going happen, and rather sooner than later because of the pragmatic, mercantile spirit of Mark Rutte’s VVD that smells money in a market regulated by a license system. Although the Netherlands made it through the crisis relatively unscathed so far, their government needs money too to keep bailing out failing banks and EU members…