NOS
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 14:30
-
Bas de Vries
Research Editor
-
Bas de Vries
Research Editor
There should be a clear playing limit of 700 euros per month to better protect online gamblers against large losses and the risks of gambling addiction. If it is up to outgoing Minister Weerwind and regulator the Gaming Authority, a series of stricter rules like this will come into effect from April.
Nowadays, when registering with a gambling company such as Betcity, Unibet or Toto, a player still determines for himself what his limits are. If he sets that limit at, for example, 10,000 euros per month, alarm bells often only go off when he exceeds it. There is little or no control over whether someone can afford such large expenses.
Self-imposed ‘gambling ban’ for 60,000 people
The Gaming Authority (Ksa) concluded earlier this year that providers are failing in their ‘duty of care’ in practice, mainly because they do not monitor the gaming behavior of their customers closely enough. While the intention of legalizing online gambling in October 2021 was to better protect gamblers. Since then, according to the latest figures, almost 60,000 Dutch people have imposed a ban on all forms of gambling for at least six months. People generally do this if they feel that they have insufficient control over their gaming behavior.
In the new proposed system, companies must be much more on top of things: they must be able to detect signals of excessive gambling within an hour. In addition, they must contact any gambler who wants to set a playing limit of 350 euros or more. In that contact, they must point out to the player the risks of such bets and refer to the possibility of help and support.
It is possible to continue playing afterwards, but this stops at more than 700 euros in monthly deposits per account. If someone cannot prove with proof of income that he can afford those types of bets, he can no longer make additional deposits that month and can only play with the money still in his account.
In this way we oblige providers to intervene earlier and we give players more control over their gaming behavior.
Outgoing Minister Weerwind for Legal Protection
The new rules will be slightly stricter for young adults (18 to 24 years old), because research shows that they are the most sensitive to gambling addiction. Tomorrow they will not deposit more than 300 euros per month and will already be approached by the company in question with a limit of 150 euros.
“Research shows that providers encourage players to bet more money than they can afford to lose,” Minister Weerwind said in an explanation. “With these measures, we oblige providers to intervene earlier and we give players more control over their gaming behavior.”
Limits apply per provider
The problem with these limits is that they apply per provider. According to a spokesperson for Weerwind, a change in the law is necessary to possibly set limits that apply across all companies. And that is expected to take years. Because there are now 27 companies with a permit, problem players can simply create a new account with another website in the new system if they exceed the limit and thus still get themselves into financial trouble.
Ultimately I had to accept that I will not earn that money back.
Gambler who lost 211,000 euros within a year
Denny Eesterman (not his real name) is a clear example: he played with eleven different accounts and lost more than 211,000 euros in the past ten months. Some providers eventually excluded him from participation; He didn’t hear anything from other providers all year, even when he had lost tens of thousands of euros there.
This put him in dire straits financially. He got the money from his own business, but eventually he had to sell his house. He used the surplus value to pay off debts.
‘No-obligation emails’
Denny has not played since the beginning of this month. “I started gambling so heavily because in the beginning I won 38,000 euros mainly with blackjack. It initially seemed like it would be a nice extra income. But then I started losing big. At first I thought I would earn that money back, but in the end I I have to accept that I have simply lost those tons. Otherwise it will all get much worse.”
He doesn’t know whether he would have gotten into less trouble in the new system, given that on paper he can afford quite a bit. “It would have especially helped me if there were stricter limits for major losses. Now I only received some non-binding emails and a reminder after a few weeks. Without any further concrete action being taken.”
Not controversial
The tightened rules will now be ‘in consultation’: gambling companies and addiction experts, among others, can still respond before they are finally adopted, possibly with changes. The previous House of Representatives determined that the tightening of the gambling policy is not controversial and that outgoing Minister Weerwind does not have to make any concessions on this subject.
2023-12-21 13:30:17
#online #gambling #rules #monthly #playing #limit #euros
