Dutch gambling watchdog cracks down on illegal poker games

The region’s Gaming Authority (KSA) has reported that illegal Dutch poker tournaments were raided in Autumn. The KSA hit cities like Amsterdam, Asten, The Hague, Rotterdam, and Tilburg in 2024, with an “important focus” on squashing illegal gambling for 2025.

Part of the crackdown included a €110,000 ($119,946.57) fine against a “non-licensed organiser.” In one case, it managed to secure €40,000 ($43,616.93) intended for the prize pool.

While there doesn’t appear to be any arrests detailed in the report, the KSA does state that a restaurant was shut down. After shutting down any illegal gambling, the business was instructed to close by the local municipality.

As detailed by the KSA, the intention of curtailing illegal poker games like those shut down in 2024 is to prevent gambling addiction. Europe and the countries within it are acutely aware of how bad it can get, and various outfits across the EU are far stricter than other places in the world.

Such as The Netherlands, which has strict rules surrounding poker. Only the company Holland Casino is allowed to host money tournaments for poker. As it’s state-run, it has a legal monopoly over the entirety of the Netherlands’ poker scene. It has 13 locations across the country.

Online gambling was illegal for the Dutch until April 2021, when the Remote Gambling Act came into effect. This is currently under review by the government, with potential changes being worked on, with claims of the current state of the bill failing vulnerable players.

It’s expected that by the end of 2025, the Dutch government will have proposed and passed a new gambling act in an effort to create a safer environment. Part of this would be to add a deposit limit on how much can be spent on slot machines. Whether this will change the rules of the poker scene has yet to be revealed.

The post Dutch gambling watchdog cracks down on illegal poker games appeared first on ReadWrite.