Holland Says Yes to Poker, No to Casinos Online

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In September 2009 the Dutch Ministry of Justice had set up a committee to review the online gambling policy of the country. The six member committee, chaired by G.J. Jansen, the Queen’s Commissioner in Overijssel, has now submitted its report. The report states that online poker should be legalized in the Netherlands under a non-exclusive licensing system. But other online gambling products like casino, bingo and sports betting should remain to be illegal in the public domain. The report pointed out that certain online gambling products, including sports betting and lottery, are allowed under existing laws through the state owned monopoly operator DeLotto.

The advisory committee explained at length the rationale for not restricting online poker to a state owned monopoly. It recognized that online poker was very popular and there was already a flourishing illegal market in this game. It would not be possible for a single new entrant to effectively capture a major share of this market. Hence it proposed to issue online poker licenses to multiple operators. Actually the committee has suggested that the existing illegal system be legalized by bringing some of the online poker operators into a regulatory regime. It recommended that a limited number of licenses be issued for fixed time periods through an open and transparent process. A similar procedure was followed in the case of land based slot machines.

The Remote Gambling Association (RGA) vide its own press release has criticized the Jansen committee report. The title of the press release "Dutch report short of mark" says it all. In brief the report says that while the regulation of online poker is to be welcomed, the exclusion of sports betting and casino games is condemnable. Clive Hawkswood, Chief Executive of the RGA, said, "This is clearly a missed opportunity to follow the same path as other jurisdictions, such as Denmark, which do not seek to discriminate against different forms of gambling and recognize that all are capable of being properly regulated." Hawkswood added that exclusion of sports betting seems to be an appeasement of DeLotto, which offers this product and would not like competition. RGA is a trade association of the leading European online gaming operators, which include 888.com, Bet365, Betfair and Ladbrokes.

It is doubtful that the issue will end with this report. Betfair is already embroiled in a legal battle in Netherlands with the Dutch Ministry of Justice. It has lost the case at the European Court of Justice to offer online gambling products to Dutch players based on its existing license. Therefore it intends to apply for a license in the Netherlands and open a fresh round of legal battles.

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