Online gambling popular among right-leaning voters in the Netherlands
Ahead of the upcoming November parliamentary elections, casino news and affiliate website Meneer Casino commissioned a survey (n=6561) on the relationship between political preference and online gambling participation in the Netherlands.
The survey found that online gambling participation rates are generally higher among right-leaning voters than among their left-leaning counterparts – although the correlation is not perfect.
Online gambling participation rates are generally highest among voters for right-wing anti-establishment parties (with participation rates of up to 31.06%) and lowest among voters for socially liberal pro-establishment parties (with participation rates as low as 1.75%).
Although the survey did not consider income and education levels, at first glance it appears that (secular) right-wing views are positively correlated with online gambling participation, while higher income and education levels are negatively correlated.
Punters sue TOTO over cancelled bets
Four self-declared “semi-professional" punters have sued sports betting operator TOTO over a cancelled bet.
TOTO's land-based division offered 7:1 odds on a higher-division football club beating a lower-division opponent in a Danish league competition and subsequently cancelled the bets. According to TOTO, the offered odds were an obvious mistake and evidently “too good to be true.” The bettors, however, argue that TOTO should have honored its original odds because it could not notify the players in time that the bet had been cancelled.
However, the bettors’ larger complaint is that winning players are systematically excluded or restricted by licensed online operators, which caused them to switch to in-store betting. Currently, in-store betting remains a TOTO monopoly that – in contrast to online gambling – does not require player identification.
Under current regulations, Netherlands-licensed operators are allowed to exclude players for economic reasons from engaging in new bets or wagers.
But while in-store betting does not require any form of player identification in the Netherlands, the Danish gambling regulator recently announced that players will be required to identify themselves if they want to place a wager at a physical retailer.
Dutch civil court finds itself competent to judge over dispute between player and illegal operator who targeted the Dutch market
In a recent ruling, the Overijssel District Court found itself competent to adjudicate a claim brought by a Dutch player against Malta-based online operator N1 Interactive. The player demanded restitution of his gambling losses on the basis that N1 was not allowed to legally operate in the Netherlands.
N1 had argued that the claim should be treated as an international dispute. The court, however, ruled that N1 had deliberately targeted the Dutch market and that, as a result, the player was now entitled to legal recourse in his own EU member state.
As a result, the court will examine the substance of the player claim against N1 Interactive at a later date.
Flutter Entertainment acquires 51% stake in MaxBet
Flutter Entertainment has acquired an initial 51% stake in MaxBet, Serbia’s omni-channel sports betting and gaming operator.
The acquisition involves a cash consideration of €141m ($148m). Additionally, Flutter has an option to acquire the remaining 49% stake in MaxBet in 2029. The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2024, pending customary regulatory clearances.
Sweden proposes to increase gambling tax to 22%
Sweden's government has proposed raising the country's gambling tax from 18% to 22% of GGR as it believes that the country's gambling market has reached stability since the market's re-regulation in 2019.
The tax increase is slated to take effect on July 1, 2024, subject to confirmation by the country's parliament.
Upcoming events
The following event(s) may be of interest to the GiH community.
The 2023 Gaming in Germany Conference has been scheduled to take place October 16, 2023, in Berlin. Benjamin Schwanke, Co-Chair of Germany federal gambling regulator, GGL, will be the event's keynote speaker.
Holland Casino posts turnover increase despite 30% drop in online revenues
Holland Casino reported a year-on-year increase in turnover to €405.3m during H1 2023, up from €353.4m in H1 2022.
Holland Casino recorded around 2.5m visits across its fourteen locations in the Netherlands in H1 2023. While this was markedly higher than 1.8 million visits in H1 2022 when the operator was still faced with Covid-19 restrictions, it remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
While the land-based business continues to recover, Holland Casino noted declines within its online segment. Online revenue in H1 fell to €57.2m, 30.8% lower than in the same period in the previous year.
Holland Casino cited increased competition and voluntary advertising restrictions ahead of the countrywide ban on untargeted advertising for online gambling services as reasons for the decline.
Holland Casino CEO Petra de Ruiter commented: “We are happy that our guests continue to return. Still, not all our visitors have found their way back. But now that staffing levels are returning to normal, we are finally able to offer our full spectrum of games. Because of this, we expect our recovery to continue.”
Other news
This December, Holland Casino will be bringing a “low limit, high fun” poker tournament to Rotterdam.
Holland Casino's recent decision to leave the city of Groningen and build a new venue in a neighboring municipality was not well received by Groningen's city administration. However, a local property developer accuses the administration of deliberately tanking the proposed project.
Last week, the Netherlands’ central exclusion register, CRUKS suffered a malfunction, which made it impossible to log in with any licensed operator for a short period of time.
Norway's gambling authority announced it will monitor nine unspecified banks to investigate whether they process transactions from illegal gambling operators.
The US Powerball jackpot is up to $835m – the fourth-largest in the game's history