Dutch Gaming Authority Imposes a 400,000 EUR Fine on PokerStars

Another online casino and poker cardroom has been fined by the Netherlands Gaming Authority for offering games to Dutch consumers without a local license. The Toronto-listed gaming operator, The Stars Group, and owner of PokerStars – the world’s largest poker room and host of biggest online tournaments with satellites to WSOP was found guilty of violating the country’s regulations regarding online gambling.

The newly imposed penalty on TSG Interactive Gaming Europe Limited, part of the largest gaming group with live and online poker coverage totals €400,000 and it basically refers to pokerstars.eu – an unlicensed brand in the country of tulips.

According to Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) and its current regulations, players in Netherlands can only win money if the operator has been granted a valid license to provide casino products. After a thorough investigation by the KSA in 2018, it has been revealed that the brand deliberately targeted Dutch consumers, who placed deposits via Ideal – a Dutch e-commerce payment system.

Taking a closer look at the restricted countries on PokerStars has shown that the Netherlands was not mentioned, which could have prohibited from accessing and playing a game of poker.

There is only one fully licensed online casino in the country that can offer its residents an opportunity to play poker for real money, however this brand is restricted to land-based poker offerings.

Penalties for Illegal Gambling on The Rise

At the beginning of this year, Kansspelautoriteit announced severe financial penalties for all online gambling operators who offer their services to Dutch citizens without permission. The first operator to receive a €310,000 penalty was Casumo, a Malta-based gaming platform without a proper license to offer casino products on the territory.

Among other operators to receive a six-figure penalty for violating the country’s regulations for online gambling were Casino.com (€450,000), Electraworks (€350,000) and Kindred (€470,000).

Back in 2018, the gaming regulator issued a record high total of financial fines, reaching €1,709,800. Besides KSA, the only regulator to have issued a larger amount of financial penalties in 2018 was the UK Gambling Commission – pushing £27 million in total.

Criteria and Wording

In the Netherlands, poker is a game of chance, which was determined by the Supreme Court in 1998. Since the announcement of the launch of Dutch iGaming Market in 2021, the country’s regulatory agency invited all potential operators to establish valid licenses and adhere to the previously determined conditions before entering.

At the same time, the KSA is still focusing on parties who target Dutch consumers illegally. In this moment, it is simply not possible to obtain a license for online gambling, but the situation should change in the future, as soon as the Remote Gambling Act comes into effective, probably within a one-year period.

As another measure to add more value to players’ protection, the Dutch Regulator introduced anti-money laundering prevention back in July.

Source:

“Boete 400.000 euro voor aanbieden pokeren via pokerstars.eu”, kansspelautoriteit.nl, September 23, 2019.