KSA warns operators for taking bets on yellow cards
The Dutch regulator has issued warnings as the World Cup gets underway.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit says it has warned two operators for taking bets on yellow cards. Dutch gambling legislation forbids this on the grounds that it makes games more vulnerable to match-fixing.
The KSA said the offences took place before the start of the World Cup and didn’t name the operators involved. It says it has warned another operator for breaching its ban on the use of role models to promote gambling by featuring several prominent Dutch people in an ad for an event that also featured the operator’s logo throughout.
Regulations prohibit the use of a logo in the same communication as the image, voice or name of a role model. The KSA said the ad has since been withdrawn. Another operator was warned for offering an illegal game with a top prize of €2.5m not covered by its licence. The KSA said the operator had since changed the offer.
TonyBet picks up Dutch online gaming licence
Over a year after the launch of the Netherlands’ regulated gambling market, TonyBet has become the 24th operator to secure a licence from the regulator Kansspelautoriteit.
The licence will allow TonyBet to offer online casino games, sports betting and horse racing betting to players in the Netherlands. The licence will run for five years until November 14, 2027. TonyBet has not yet confirmed the domain name under which it will operate.
The Netherlands’ remote gambling act (KOA) came into effect on April 1 last year after a series of delays. The market opened on October 2 last year.
Riga-based TonyBet operates in Canada, Spain, Estonia, Lithuania and Malta. Last month, it gained a licence to operate in its home country of Latvia. It will offer sports betting, online casino and live casino at TonyBet.lv.
The expansion completes TonyBet’s presence in the Baltics, where it already operates in Estonia and Lithuania. The company said it had invested €1.5m in the expansion.
Earlier this week, KSA said it was investigating several affiliate marketing sites for blatantly advertising unlicensed gambling to vulnerable consumers. The regulator said the sites appeared to have been set up to intentionally promote ways to circumvent the Netherlands’ regulated gambling offering.
The KSA said the domain names under investigation include casinozondervergunning (“casino without licence”) and casinozondercruks (“casino without Cruks” – in reference to the Netherlands’ national gambling self-exclusion system, which all licensed operators must use).
