Netherlands Gambling Authority issues cease-and-desist order to betonline.ag
The Netherlands Gambling Authority has ordered Panama-based operator Blue High House, owner of the Betonline.ag website, to stop offering online gambling services to Dutch consumers.
In case of non-compliance, the Dutch regulator will hit the operator with weekly €43,000 fines up to a maximum amount of €129,000, starting from October 13.
At present the betonline.ag website (including its customer registration form) is still accessible from the Netherlands. It thus appears doubtful that Blue High House will comply with the Gambling Authority's order.
CDA announces private bill to undo legalization of online gambling
Anne Kuik, MP on behalf of political group CDA has announced that she will propose a private bill (i.e., a bill submitted to Parliament by one or more MPs rather than the government) to undo the legalization of online gambling in the Netherlands.
CDA, which is part of the current government coalition, is expected to lose heavily in the upcoming Lower House elections on November 22.
At present, the private bill appears unlikely to succeed. Still, the current political situation in the Netherlands is volatile and the possibility cannot be entirely ruled out that the bill could cause some trouble in the future.
UK mulls 1% gambling levy to fund research and treatment of addiction
The British government is considering a new mandatory levy on online gambling companies of up to 1% in a move it predicts would raise £100m per year to fund research, prevention and treatment of gambling addiction.
While a voluntary levy already exists, the government's Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) said in a statement that some operators were paying as little as 1 pound towards research, prevention and treatment.
"The Government is minded to set the levy as a new 1% fee on gross gambling yield for online gambling operators, while traditional betting shops and casinos will pay a proposed fee of around 0.4%," DCMS said.
Upcoming events
The following event(s) may be of interest to the GiH community.The 2024 Casino Operations Summit, which focuses on land-based casino operations, will take place April 23-25 in Amsterdam.
Turnover in Italy's illegal gambling market estimated at €25bn
Annual turnover in Italy's illegal gambling market is estimated at €25bn, La Gazetta dello Sport reports. Of this number, an estimated 75% (€18.5bn) is spent on unlicensed gambling websites.
According to the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), this means that (assuming an RTP rate of 5%) about €1 billion in online gross gaming revenue is lost to the black market each year.
This despite the fact that Italy's Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has already blocked more than 9800 unlicensed gambling websites in 2023 alone.
EGBA further points to Italy's complete ban on online gambling advertising as a contributing factor in the large size of Italy's black market.
Other news
As was already widely suspected at the time, Dutch charity lotteries successfully lobbied members of parliament to ensure – against experts’ wishes – that they would not be forced to use the same warning slogan as other gambling operators.
CasinoNieuws is featuring an interview with Remko de Boer, MD of LeoVegas Netherlands.
More than 40 players are suspected of being involved in the betting scandal that has rocked Italian football and has already led to the suspension of several players in and outside of Italy.
Flutter Entertainment will proceed with the reorganization of Tombola to secure further cost savings in the management of its flagship UK online bingo room.