Dutch Gaming Authority releases details of Holland Casino sanction
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4 Dec 2024 •
Reading time: 2 minutes The Dutch Gaming Authority (Ksa) has released documents about a legal battle with Holland Casino. It was about a penalty payment order because of a simple button on the website.
What started as a small conflict grew into a protracted case that will not be fully resolved even in 2024.
A simple button becomes a major problem
The story begins in October 2021, not long after the opening of the legal online gambling market. The Ksa found that Holland Casino violated the rules by showing a button on their website that referred to their physical locations.
According to the regulator, this was a form of advertising, which was not allowed according to the rules. Holland Casino saw this differently and started a long-term battle to get their way.
The discussion was not only about what was and was not allowed. It also touched on the core of how Holland Casino wants to present itself online. The company was afraid that changes to the website would harm their position in search engines.
That would mean that fewer people could find their site. In the end, Holland Casino had to give in and changed their approach in 2023.
The impact of the ruling
Holland Casino long maintained that the button was not an advertisement. They argued that visitors to their site wanted information about their physical locations. But the judge and the Ksa were adamant.
The decision forced the company to make adjustments that went much further than they wanted. For Holland Casino, this felt like an infringement on how they run their business.
In the meantime, the Ksa published more than 140 documents about the case. These show that the regulator kept a close eye on how Holland Casino complied with the rules from the start. This only increased the pressure on the gambling company.
What does this mean for the future?
This case shows how strict the rules are for online gambling companies in the Netherlands. It is not only about what companies do, but also about how they do it.
For players, this means more transparency and less confusion. But for companies like Holland Casino, it is a warning: even small details can have major consequences.