Circus wins big court case: gambler gets nothing back
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29 May 2025 •
Reading time: 2 minutes A Dutch gambler went to court because he felt online casino Circus had breached its duty of care. Over three weeks, he lost more than €20,000 and demanded that money back. The man also claimed that he was in Cruks and therefore should never have been allowed to gamble.
According to the gambler, Circus should have stopped him because he had registered himself in Cruks. He also said that he showed deviant gambling behaviour and therefore Circus should have stopped him.
What exactly happened to the registration and loss?
The man registered with Circus on 30 November 2022 but did not play then. On November 3, 2023, he logged in again. Circus then asked him to upload his proof of identity again. He also had to provide a document with his address details.
He provided his ID and BSN document, but the address document was not accepted. In fact, the bank statement showed a different address from the one on his registration. Nevertheless, he was able to deposit and play money because Circus did have his address via iDIN.
In three weeks, he lost over €20,000. He then sent an email to Circus to demand his money back. Circus immediately closed his account and refused to refund the money.
How did the judge rule in the case?
The judge in Amsterdam ruled in favour of Circus. The judge found that there were no rules at the time requiring gambling companies to intervene in the event of such losses. The judge also said that the loss was not so great that intervention was necessary.
Moreover, the man had always played within his own deposit limits. The judge also pointed out that Circus checked whether the man was in Cruks on every login attempt. He was not.
About TOTO’s Facebook Messenger message, the judge said it was not reliable evidence. The profile picture and time of the conversation were incorrect. The claim that the conversation had been translated from Polish only raised more questions.
What does Circus and their lawyers say about this?
Law firm Franssen Tolboom, which helped Circus with the case, reacted happily. According to them, this ruling clearly shows where the duty of care of gambling companies stops.
They said more and more gamblers are trying to get money back by saying gambling companies are violating their duty of care. Here, according to the court, it was not the case. Circus therefore does not have to refund the money and the gambler has to pay the litigation costs.