Online Gambling Decisions in Holland

August 29, 2010 | News Category: Gaming Law

0 Comments

In Holland, certain forms of online gambling are already legal and acceptable to the Dutch government, namely the lottery and sports betting, both of which are run and owned by DeLotto, a state owned monopoly.

Nearly a year ago, in September last year, the Dutch Ministry of Justice set up a committee to look into the country’s online gambling policy and then to report on their findings as to whether online gambling should be legalized in Holland, and if so, what online gambling should be legalized.

The report has finally been released, and has some surprising results. The report that was released from the sex member committee states that online gambling, such as online casinos, and bingo, and also sports betting should be kept illegal for public concerns. Sports betting, however, would remain legal through DeLotto, along with any other games they currently offer the Dutch public. According to the report, however, online poker should be legalized in the public domain, and not restricted to a state owned monopoly.

Online poker is already quite entrenched in the Dutch society, even though the game is currently illegal in Holland. The recommendation has been to bring in a number of online poker licensees and legalize them for the current market. Interestingly, in a move that is quite the opposite of the way the United States looks at things, the report even suggests that those online poker sites that are currently illegally offering their sites to the Dutch people should be brought into the framework of the games that are regulated and legalized.

The United States, on the other hand, has almost tried to punish those who offered their online gambling wares to US residents without legal permission to do so, even when the law has not been particularly clear. It does not seem likely that any of the companies that have not made deals with the US government, or had not pulled out of the US early enough, will be allowed to apply for online gambling licenses when they are first opened up for a legal and regulated market.

There have been many objections to the suggestions that were raised in the report. While there is some satisfaction that at least online poker will be legalized and regulated, there is much disappointment that other online gambling, such as online casinos have been left out of the loop. Sports betting is also a contentious issue, but with sports betting, it is at least being offered by DeLotto, so this decision may have been made in order to protect the state owned monopoly.