Illegal online gambling: BC.Game is given a heavy fine
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23 Oct 2024 •
Reading time: 3 minutes It seems to be a cat-and-mouse game between the Dutch Gaming Authority and the online crypto casino BC.Game. Despite earlier warnings, the gambling company remained accessible to Dutch players via a different domain name. And now the Gaming Authority is on top of it with a heavy fine that could increase considerably.
How BC.Game became active in the Netherlands again
It all started in December 2022. The Gaming Authority then discovered that you could still play on BC.Game from the Netherlands. They managed to create an account, deposit money with a crypto wallet and gamble a few times on “The Dog House,” a popular slot machine.
BC.Game did not have a license to offer games of chance in the Netherlands. So in March 2023 everything seemed to be resolved when the casino was suddenly no longer accessible from the Netherlands and the case was closed.
But that was too early to celebrate. A year later in July 2024, the Gaming Authority discovered that the casino was again accessible to Dutch people via a new domain name: bcgame.lu. And yes, the fine was imposed after all, and not a small one either.
BlockDance B.V. out of the picture, Small House N.V. in action
This is where the story gets a bit shady. BC.Game was always owned by BlockDance B.V., a company based in Curaçao. But in May 2024, everything changed. BC.Game proudly announced that they were now part of Small House N.V. A fresh start, a new parent company, but still the same dubious practices. Whether you put BlockDance or Small House on the letterhead, the Gaming Authority didn’t fall for it.
With a new license in hand, from the Curaçao Gaming Control Board, BC.Game simply continued happily. Only they had not counted on the stubbornness of the Dutch regulator.
BC.Game can now count on a penalty of €280,000 per week, with a maximum of €840,000. These are not amounts that you can just shrug your shoulders at. Incidentally, the gambling company is also the shirt sponsor of Leicester City, the English Premier League football club.
This is not the first time that the Gaming Authority has taken a firm stance against an online casino. And it probably won’t be the last either. They are determined to keep the Dutch gambling market clean of illegal providers, and BC.Game is now firmly in their sights.
The Gaming Authority’s fight against illegal casinos
BC.Game is unfortunately no exception. The Gaming Authority has a tough job tracking down online casinos that try to entice Dutch players without a license. In 2022, they even sent a letter to Javier Silvania, the Curaçao Minister of Finance, asking him to intervene. But as we see now, the situation continued to drag on.
It shows how difficult it is to stop illegal gambling providers. Especially when they keep popping up with a new name or domain. Still, the Gaming Authority is not giving up. By imposing such fines, they hope to finally put an end to these persistent practices.