René Jansen, chairman of the Dutch Gambling Authority (ksa), looks ahead to the regulator’s objectives in this year’s first blog of 2023. In it, he discusses a greater focus on combating physical illegal gambling. After the regulation of the Dutch gambling market in oktober 2021, the Gambling Authority primarily focused on Dutch online gambling sites.
Focus on land-based illegal offerings
The Gambling Authority will pay more attention to combat physical illegal gambling this year, as René Jansen, the chairman of the Ksa, writes in his first blog of the new year. Whereas in 2022 the focus was mainly on tackling illegal online gambling, the emphasis will now also be on land-based illegal offerings.
The Ksa, together with the municipalities and the police, will be searching for, among other things, illegal poker tournaments, illegal bingo, lotteries without a permit, and gambling machines used for illegal betting. Jansen announces that the Ksa will therefore also recruit additional inspectors in order to increase the watchdog’s capacity.
The chairman stated in his blog that he sees an increasing focus on the topic of undermining. Besides the politics in The Hague, many municipalities also want to have the ability to counteract undermining, according to Jansen.
Jansen underlines the importance of the Ksa due to its particular expertise. It can act as a dialogue partner of the Regional Information and Expertise Centers. According to his blog, the Ksa started working with regional inspectors last year. Jansen underlines the importance of the Ksa due to its particular expertise. It can act as a dialogue partner of the Regional Information and Expertise Centers. According to his blog, the Ksa started working with regional inspectors last year.
This, the chairman claims, makes the fruitful cooperation more effective. Moreover, it assists in constructing information positions and regional networks.This, the chairman claims, makes the fruitful cooperation more effective. Moreover, it assists in constructing information positions and regional networks.
Land-based casino’s contributes to illegal activities
The Chairman of the Ksa believes that the physical illegal offerings should not be romanticized. Rather than a game of bingo in a local cafe with a few small prizes, the illegal land-based offerings mainly contribute to money laundering through the criminal circuits, writes Jansen. Duty of care does not appear in the dictionary of the offerings, Jansen states.
Jansen states that small-scale physical gambling has not completely disappeared. For instance, the Ksa had to reprimand a cafe during the 2022 World Cup. In the cafe a football pool was organised where one could predict the score of a match for a fee. This still falls under the offering of an illegal gambling game, according to the Ksa chairman.
