Action promised after new online video platform finds casinos accepting excluded players in the Netherlands
The KSA says the programme’s findings are a “serious signal” about the risk of fraud in land-based casino admissions.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has announced that it is taking action against several casinos and arcades following a media investigation. PowCrime, a new online true-crime video platform launched by the public broadcasting association PowNed, showed land-based venues accepting players who had self-excluded from gambling via the Netherlands’ Cruks platform.
All operators, both land-based and online, are required to connect to Cruks and block access to players registered for exclusion. However, the PowCrime segment showed players gaining access by using other people’s identity documents.
The KSA said it had “taken note of the investigation by PowNed, which shows that people registered in Cruks can still gain entry to gaming halls and casinos through fraud”, adding that the investigation was a “serious signal.”
It added: “The segment demonstrates that access control at land-based casinos is a manual process, and that fraud cannot always be ruled out.
“It should not have happened that someone registered in Cruks enters an arcade using another person’s identification. Arcades and casinos are required to carry out thorough checks, and the KSA monitors this. The KSA is taking action against the arcades and casinos mentioned in the broadcast .
Last year, the KSA published a guideline on Cruks and identity checks, accompanied by a short step-by-step plan for identity checks, to provide more clarity regarding the requirements in the identification and verification process.
In July, the KSA finally made public that Casino Zoetermeer had been fined for admitting players who were listed on Cruks. The operator, which runs three land-based casinos in the South Holland city of Zoetermeer near The Hague had been handed the fine after an investigation in 2022 but lodged a legal request to prevent publication of the sanction.
Meanwhile, Dutch legislators continue to debate proposals to raise the minimum age for gambling in the Netherlands.
