Dutch casino fined for admitting self-excluded players
Casino Zoetermeer previously lodged a legal objection preventing publication of details of the fine.
The Netherlands.- It’s finally been made public that Casino Zoetermeer was fined for admitting players who were listed on the Netherlands’ gambling self-exclusion register. The operator, which runs three land-based casinos in the South Holland city of Zoetermeer near The Hague was handed the fine after an investigation in 2022 but lodged a legal request to prevent publication of the sanction.
The operator appealed after its initial request to prevent publication was rejected. However, a judge has now ruled that there were no grounds for that appeal, allowing the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) to publish details of the enforcement action. The KSA says the fine was originally €25,000, but was reduced to €21,500 ex officio due to the time lapsed in proceedings.
Cruks was launched in the Netherlands alongside the opening of the regulated online gambling market in October 2021. It was subsequently expanded to cover land-based gambling. Providers of both online and high-risk physical gambling are required to check whether a player is listed in Cruks before granting access to gaming. Currently, there are approximately 118,000 people listed on the system, the KSA says.
The regulator says that in 2022 it received reports from two people stating that Casino Zoetermeer was not adequately verifying players against the register. Following an investigation into the access control conducted in the same year, the KSA concluded that this was the case. It found that Casino Zoetermeer had admitted two players who were registered in Cruks at that time.
The regulator said in a statement: “The KSA considers it objectionable if Cruks checks are not carried out correctly. Players who self-exclude from gambling do so to protect themselves and must be able to assume that, as a result, they cannot gamble at licensed providers that are required to consult Cruks.
“It is an important tool to combat gambling addiction and protect players from the harm caused by high-risk games of chance. The KSA therefore expects all affiliated providers to carry out Cruks checks correctly, closely monitors this, and imposes fines if necessary.”
Meanwhile, the KSA has had words with TonyBet for using footballers’ likenesses in World Cup gambling ads. The KSA said the Netherlands’ ban on the use of role models to promote gambling included the use of recognisable references to professional footballers even if the athletes themselves do not appear in the ads.
