Online gambling in the Netherlands update

License casinos in Holland 2022

Holland Casino

Holland Casino is the best known Dutch casino. It is a state-owned company, which was the only one allowed to operate land-based casinos with live dealer games. So it was no surprise that Holland Casino Online was among the first group of casinos with a Dutch license. The company's efforts to prevent visitors from getting a gambling addiction also generated a lot of goodwill. This may also have played a role in the quick granting of a license to Holland Casino. Business-wise, it is also lucrative that the casino was one of the first to start online. Now the casino can focus on gaining a maximum market share in a market that generates 600 to 800 million annually.

In the online version, Holland Casino strives for an offer for every interested visitor. Because poker is very important to the company, an agreement was already made in 2013 for PlayTech's iPoker software. That company also plays a role in the realisation of the first Dutch-language 'live casino'. This will be offered from Holland Casino's location in Scheveningen. The croupiers are on duty between 12.00 and 03.00 hours. Furthermore, you can make use of a large collection of live games 24/7, led by English speaking dealers.

BetCity

BetCity has also been preparing an online casino for years. The online casino falls under the same company as the five branches of Casino City in Amsterdam. In 2013, an agreement was already made with Tain, a gaming platform. After the conclusion of this agreement, the company had to put its developments on the back burner for years due to the slow establishment of the Dutch legislation in the field of online gambling. The emphasis at BetCity is not only on the online casino, but also on offering online betting on sports events.

Emotion is very important to BetCity. The aim is to emphasize the experience of online gambling. Everything is aimed at maximizing the excitement of playing in an online casino and betting on sports events. BetCity also belongs to the first group of companies that could open its doors on 2 October 2021.

Bet365 Holland

Many fans of online gambling were already familiar with the British company Bet365. You can find online casino games there, but the company is best known for its sportsbook. Remarkably, this foreign company belongs to the group of online providers that were the first to receive a license from the KSA. This is because it stopped offering online services to Dutch people from abroad on time. Soon after the KSA announced it was going to fine foreign providers of these services, Bet365 could no longer be contacted from the Netherlands.

Because of this policy, Bet365 is considered the good boy of the class, that did not have to sit on the bench waiting for a Dutch license. The company is so big and offers so much quality, that it had no trouble meeting the strict requirements of the KSA, and was rewarded with a licence from the moment the Dutch online gambling market opened up.

TOTO Casino

There was of course a good chance that TOTO Casino and TOTO Sport would be among the first group to receive a licence for an online platform for the Dutch market. After all, up to that point it was the only company where Dutch people could legally gamble on sports events. This was done under the flag of De Nederlandse Loterij, a state-owned company. After De Nederlandse Loterij and the Staatsloterij merged in 2016, both companies never made a secret of the fact that they were in the process of establishing a reliable online casino.

Toto Sport

TOTO Casino and TOTO Sport has a large range of sports betting, with its flagship being, of course, the Dutch football league. But you can also gamble on dozens of other sporting events. The range of games in the online casino is large, thanks in part to a partnership with Evolution Gaming. That company is the biggest in the world when it comes to live casino games. After it acquired its biggest competitor NetEnt in 2019, that was expanded to include a large collection of very popular online video slots.

GG Poker

GG Poker is an Asian provider of poker games. The company has never been tempted to allow Dutch players on foreign versions of the site. As a result, it has never been fined by the KSA and is among the first companies to be licensed for the Dutch online gambling market. This is a big advantage, as other foreign poker providers do not yet have a Dutch license. GG Poker can take advantage of this and attract a significant proportion of Dutch poker players.

Bingoal

The operator of Bingoal is Hommerson, from Belgium. In 2008 the company was one of the first to open a legal casino, based on a Belgian license. Although you can play games at this online casino, the emphasis is on the sportsbook. Bingoal's specialty is equestrian sports and especially horse racing. However, the sportsbook is quite extensive and you can also make all kinds of other sports bets. Reportedly, Hommerson has plans to operate two more online gambling companies, but no license has been issued yet.

Kansino CasinoNetherlands

Kansino Casino is owned by Play North Ltd., a Malta-based company. This company runs several successful online casinos. The way this casino is set up, one can see that the company has a lot of experience in operating such services. It is a platform where visitors can find their way almost intuitively.

After the licence was issued by the KSA in October 2021, the casino made a somewhat false start. Content-wise, everything was fine, but the casino was opened under the name Batavia Casino. That name referred to the glorious history of the Dutch in the golden age. However, the name Batavia Casino was not allowed to be used due to a conflict regarding trademark rights. Therefore, after only a few months, the casino had to be renamed to Kansino Casino.

Tombola Netherlands

Tombola is a British company, which is unprecedentedly popular in its own country by offering online bingo. Every week many millions are spent on the game in Great Britain. The British find bingo so attractive because you can play for very little money. One of the reasons why the company is so successful is that it has developed almost all its games in-house. In the Dutch version of Tombola those games are all available. It goes without saying that the bingo rooms in the Dutch version of Tombola are led by Dutch-speaking game managers.

LiveScore Bet

Lovers of gambling on sporting events will have a new platform in the spring of 2022: LiveScore Bet. This company, which is a spin-off from the immensely popular LiveScore, received a Dutch licence in February 2022. From the name you can already deduce that it is a platform where only sports events can be bet on. A clever move by the company is that the layout of the Dutch site is exactly the same as that of its foreign counterpart.

777 Casino

The online variant of Casino de Spa is called 777 Casino. The Belgian company received a Dutch licence in February 2022. In terms of design, this casino looks great. This is partly due to the fact that actor Jean Claude Van Damme has contributed to the casino. He is not only prominent on the homepage, but also plays a role in preventing the development of a gambling addiction.

ZEturf and ZEbet

ZEturf is a French site where you can bet on horse races. The Dutch company Runnerz has been a partner in this for several years. Together, the two companies applied for a licence, which was granted by the KSA in February 2022. Despite the fact that betting on horse racing is not so big in the Netherlands, the owners expect a lot from ZEturf and ZEbet. Just like with the French version of the site, there is a lot of background information to be found, on which you can base your bets.

Circus Casino Netherlands (new)

Circus Casino belongs to a large Belgian gambling company, Gaming1. That company operates in Belgium for several years an online casino with the name Circus, but it is not accessible to Dutch players. This is a good thing, because by blocking the site in Belgium for Dutch players, the company could prevent the KSA from imposing fines. The result of this decent behaviour is that the Dutch version of Circus Casino has been licensed in February 2022. 

Jack's Casino Netherlands

The initiator of Jack's Casino & Sports Online is Eric Olders, CEO of the company JVH Holding. This company has been around for more than 60 years and is known in the Netherlands for the approximately 85 branches of Jack's Casino. JVH Holding is financially supported by an investment company, Waterland. Jack's Casino & Sport received a licence from the KSA in October 2021 and the online platform opened fairly soon afterwards.

At Jack's Casino they are particularly proud that Evolution Gaming is one of the partners. That company is the world leader in live casino and it has large numbers of enthusiastic fans worldwide. Eric Olders has emphasised that the agreement with the company means that Jack's Casino & Sports will have access to a very large portfolio of classic casino table games and a collection of game shows. Thanks to the technology of Evolution Gaming, visitors to the online casino are as it were personally present in the online casino.

JVH Holding has received two more licenses in February 2022 to operate an online casino. It is already certain that Flash Casino will make use of this. This casino will open its doors in the course of 2022. Which casino will use the other permit is not yet known. It is possible that this will be an online gambling platform for lovers of high-stakes games.

Fair Play Online

Fair Play Casino is a well-known name in the Netherlands. The casino is owned by a family business in Kerkrade. Under the name Fair Play Casino there are 34 physical establishments throughout the country. These are not real casinos, but gambling halls, where only slot machines can be played. Fair Play Online is a foreign initiative of the company, which is licensed in Malta. The associated online casino has been operated since 2016, but is thus not accessible from the Netherlands. That it is an excellent online casino is evident from the fact that the platform won an international award in its first year.

The Dutch variant of Fair Play Online is, in content, reminiscent of the games that can be played in the company's physical establishments. However, the collection of games online is much larger. The focus is on online video slots. A very large partner is Microgaming. This company develops, among other things, games with a very high jackpot.

Novamedia Gaming

Novamedia Gaming is the company behind the Postcode Lottery and the Friends Lottery. The company has received a licence from the KSA for an online gambling platform in the spring of 2022. How this will be implemented and what name it will get is not yet known. The company has indicated that it wants to have a recognisable own face and that the activities in the online version of the platform will be linked to charities, just like with the already existing lotteries.

Casinos still waiting for a Dutch licence

The Dutch Gambling Authority has received many more applications from companies that would like to start an online Dutch gambling platform. Some of these companies are not active yet, but there are also some that already have a site abroad. Most of these foreign sites are not accessible to Dutch people, because the companies risk a fine from the KSA. This includes a delay in applying for a licence.

Below is a list of companies that have applied for a Dutch licence, but have not yet received one.

Supergame

Supergame is a large company from Belgium, which has land-based casinos in the Netherlands and Belgium and is active in the online market in Belgium. In the casinos the focus is on dice games. Since the online casinos cannot be reached from the Netherlands, it is suspected that a license has been applied for in the Netherlands.

Polder Casino

One Dutch online casino that has been very successful since 2014 with a license from Malta is Polder Casino. That casino was Dutch-speaking and aimed at Dutch gambling enthusiasts. You could also deposit money there by using iDEAL. After the KSA announced in 2017 that they were going to crack down on these illegal activities, Polder Casino decided to close its online doors. This prevented a fine from being issued.

Waiting for license in the Netherlands

In recent years, a large number of foreign online casinos did not abide by the rules of the Dutch gaming authority. As a Dutch gambler, you could gamble on dozens of foreign sites, sometimes even through a Dutch domain name. Some of these sites were even available in Dutch and you could often deposit money with iDEAL and have it paid out. This led to fines of hundreds of thousands of euros.

This is detrimental to the application for a licence, because the KSA will not start investigating whether these parties meet all the conditions until 27 months after an application for a Dutch licence has been made. This investigation also takes at least 6 months. The first companies that have been on this punitive bench will probably not receive a licence until after April 2022. In the following list you can see which companies they are.

Unibet Casino

Unibet Casino is a household name among Dutch sports fans. Many of them have gambled on sporting events there when it was still possible to do so illegally. After Unibet, now part of the Kindred Group, was fined, it was not allowed to apply for a license in the Netherlands. It is expected that the KSA will now take care of the application, especially since it has been impossible for Dutch players to visit the Unibet site for over two years.

Bwin and Partypoker

Bwin and Partypoker are, together with Ladbrokes, part of the company Entain. Both gambling sites are excluded from applying for a Dutch license because of the violation of the law by Bwin. The result is that Bwin may only become legally available for Dutch players in the second half of 2022.

PokerStars

Betfair and PokerStars are casinos of the casino magnate Flutter. In 2019, Flutter was fined heavily by the gaming authority and therefore had to take a seat on the bench. In the course of 2022, the company may receive a licence. This will be used for PokerStars. The company has decided to withdraw Betfair completely from the Dutch market.

Napoleon Casino

In our southern neighbourhood, Napoleon Casino is pretty much the market leader in both online and land-based casinos. This is partly because the company works with impressively large players, such as Microgaming and NetEnt. Initially, only Belgian players were the target group, but after the takeover by an international company, the target group has become broader. It therefore seems that Napoleon Casino also wants to attract players outside Belgium. It is not known whether this company has applied for a Dutch licence.

William Hill / Mr. Green

The company William Hill Ltd., which owned the online casinos William Hill and Mr. Green, has been fined heavily by the KSA. As a result, the company had to take a seat on the penalty bench and wait 24 months before applying for a license. Despite the fact that the cooling-off period has been over for quite some time, as far as we know, no licence was ever applied for in the Dutch market. Meanwhile, William Hill Ltd. has been taken over by 888Casino. That's why it's expected that a license for William Hill has been applied for after all.

LeoVegas

A major Swedish operator, which was even fined twice by the KSA for targeting Dutch players, is LeoVegas. Leovegas is part of Panda Casino. The result is that this company could receive a Dutch licence only in the second half of 2022, of course only if the investigation of the KSA is passed with good results.

How reliable is online gambling?

There are absolutely no risks involved in placing bets online or playing games at an online casino, as long as you pay attention to the casino you are playing at. If you don't, you run the risk of being cheated out of your money. This is done on the sly and you will lose your money before you know it.

The most important thing is to check how the internet address of the casino begins. It should be https, as this is the only guarantee that information between you and the website will be transmitted securely. By starting the URL with https, you can be sure that no unauthorized person will be able to intercept the communication. This is very important, because you are not only passing on personal information, but also making financial transactions. There are also a number of checks you can do to see if a gambling site is trustworthy.

Identifying trustworthy online casinos and bookmakers

The most important information to know if you are dealing with a trustworthy website is at the bottom of the page. There you can find the following information:

- The licenses held by the companies;
- The certification of the games' software and platform;
- The available financial transaction methods supported;
- Information about the company owner and contact details;
- Terms and conditions and privacy policy;
- Information on where to turn if a gambling addiction develops.

As a player, you can assume that the casino complies with these rules. Otherwise they would not be listed on the site. After all, it's quite an achievement to be proud of having a safe website and meeting all the guidelines. Below is a detailed description of what the different types of information mean. If you don't feel like reading it through, you can skip this paragraph.

Licence certificate

The licence certificate is an official document issued by a government. Such a certificate is proof that the sites do not intend to engage in illegal practices. Every gambling site must have at least one licence certificate, but there may also be several, i.e. from several countries. This may seem a little excessive, but it is not. Not every country has equally strict conditions. The Netherlands is one of the strictest countries in the world in this respect.

See ratings and reviews Dutch Casinos

You can use reviews to check whether a gambling site has good intentions. Take your time, because online casinos can also buy positive reviews, which are not real, but by far the majority. So scroll through the list and read the negative reviews. You can be sure they are real. If there are many negative reviews, it is better not to use the gambling site in question.

Frequently asked questions about online gambling

Which casino sites and reviews are reliable?

The Internet is full of sites with reviews of online gambling sites. They are not all neutral sites, but you can still get useful information from them. A casino review allows customers to comment on it and this shows whether the review is somewhat truthful. Also keep in mind that online casinos know that these kinds of sites are very popular with casino visitors. So they'll be happy to collaborate on articles about their own site, and accompany the articles with a nice offer.

Check the blacklists

There are blacklists all over the Internet that list casinos that have been negatively reported or that are the subject of many complaints. If you have found an attractive casino, it is easy to check if it is on such a list. This check is important, because there are many online gambling companies of questionable quality, which have a name very similar to an impeccable online casino.

What is so great about online gambling?

Online gambling has almost only advantages, but there are also a few disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that you can play your favourite game anytime, anywhere. There is no need to put on any fancy clothes. If you want you can even play in your bath or bed. Online casinos and bookmakers are also open 24/7.

The wide range of options also makes it attractive to gamble online. In a casino establishment, the number of games is limited by the size of the premises. Online, the space is basically unlimited. The advantage of this is that you can test just about all variants of games and you can also try out the different sidebets. If you're smart, you can get big bonuses or be invited to online tournaments.

From a financial point of view, gambling online is more lucrative than going to a casino establishment. In an establishment, the number of limits you can play for is limited, so the chances of you playing beyond your means are quite high. Online, you can choose the limit that suits your wallet. If you like to spend a lot of money, of course you can. But if you want to, you can also have fun for just a few euros.

For many players, the biggest advantage of online casinos is that the payout percentages are higher than when you go to an establishment. This makes sense, since overhead costs are much lower online. There is no need for staff to welcome visitors and provide them with snacks and drinks. As a result, the payout percentage for some games can be as high as 98 percent.

The biggest disadvantage of playing in an online casino is that you don't meet other people and you can't enjoy the glamour. Going to a casino establishment is really an evening out, with a gamble, a snack and a drink. Another disadvantage is that you often have to wait a bit longer for your winnings to be paid out. In an online casino it can take up to a day, while in an establishment your winnings are paid out when you leave the casino.

Where can one gamble online on the internet?

The choice of places to gamble online on the internet is incredible. There are thousands of sites worldwide. You can really choose a site that meets all your needs. So choose a site with a theme you like, a bonus you want to play for, games you like, etc. Just make sure you choose a safe site.

What categories of gambling sites can I choose from?

To limit your choice of gambling sites, you can choose a certain category of gambling site. Examples of categories are sites where you can play mostly video slots, sites with an excellent live casino and sites where you can bet on sports. There are also gambling sites that specialise in one game, such as poker, bingo, horse racing, etc. But the vast majority of gambling sites offer a combination of several categories of games. Especially if you like several types of games, that's a good thing. Because then you can switch to another game without leaving the site.

Are there different types of licences?

Licensing policies vary from country to country. Usually, an online gambling company has a general license. Occasionally, a one-off event licence is issued. There are also gambling sites where only one game category may be offered, such as bingo or poker.

What are the requirements for applying for a licence?

When applying for a licence, the company is subjected to a thorough investigation. Aspects that are taken into account are:

- A check for any criminal offences;
- The way the company wants to operate. This concerns procedures that are followed when depositing and paying out balances, the implementation of bonuses, the rules when paying out a jackpot, and the way in which the site and server are secured;
- Background check of the external partners for fraud;
- Financial backgrounds;
- Technical standards of the software, specifically the independent control possibilities;
- Legal position.