Online gambling: minors circumvent the ban to play online

The appeal of online gambling is no longer the preserve of adults. Despite the strict ban on gambling for under-18s in the Netherlands, teenagers are finding ways to circumvent the regulations by using their parents’ accounts or creating fictitious accounts. This trend worries experts and calls into question the effectiveness of the measures put in place to protect minors from addiction.

Attractive ads and easy access

Online casinos are investing heavily in colorful and dynamic advertising campaigns aimed at a young audience. Popular personalities, such as rapper Donnie, appear in commercials designed to attract the attention of young people. This is despite the fact that, as in Belgium, it is forbidden to use celebrities in gambling advertisements in the Netherlands. These advertising efforts are accompanied by easy-to-access online gambling platforms, which often require little in-depth verification when creating accounts.

Despite the legal ban, the temptation remains strong among teenagers. “Gambling online is so easy. You just have to use the account of someone who is an adult.” says Daan, 17, a student at a high school in Nijverdal. His testimony is not isolated: several young people admit to having tried their luck online via the account of a parent or relative.

A phenomenon on the rise despite the restrictions

According to figures published in the Scholierenmonitor 2023 of the Trimbos-Instituut, one in fifteen teenagers admits to having already bet online for money. Young boys are particularly numerous in getting involved in this type of activity. Tony van Rooij, a gambling expert at Trimbos-Instituut, is concerned about this increase in online betting among minors. Every minor player is one player too many, he warns, highlighting the risks of addiction and financial losses, sometimes from a very young age.

The phenomenon is all the more worrying because some teenagers see online betting as a quick way to make money. Tim, 15, tells us that a friend of his won 2,000 euros in online betting by betting just 5 euros. He adds that he does not participate himself, but that he knows several friends who do so regularly, especially to bet on sports matches.

Adult accounts, a gateway to get around the law

The strategy used by young people to get around the ban is simple: they use the accounts of their parents or other close adults. Anna, 15, says that she bets online when she is at her father’s, every two weeks. She uses the latter’s account to bet, while investing her own money, often around 20 euros per session.

These practices are not limited to real money bets. For many teenagers, the pleasure of gambling also involves fictitious bets, without monetary exchange. Rogier, 17, and his friends Daan and Hivan explain that they sometimes play for fun, betting virtual money instead of real money. “We bet with fictitious money, it’s for fun, and it’s free.” explains Rogier. However, even these practices without financial stakes can contribute to anchoring gambling behavior in young people, unconsciously preparing them for future bets.

Regulations that are difficult to apply

While the ban on online gambling for minors is clearly enshrined in law, compliance with this rule is problematic. Gijs van Houwelingen, an expert in addiction prevention at Tactus Verslavingszorg, warns of the dangers of gambling addiction among young people, whose brains are still developing.

“Young people do not yet have the maturity to understand the long-term consequences of their actions, which makes them particularly vulnerable.”

Gijs van Houwelingen

He believes that the current regulations lack rigor in their age checks, allowing minors to easily circumvent the restrictions.

“Creating a fake account or using an adult’s account is a simple and low-risk operation for adolescents. This lack of security opens the door to excessive gambling behavior.”

Faced with the rise of online gambling among minors, experts and institutions agree on the need to strengthen controls and awareness. The lack of strict age verification measures allows minors to slip into a world of gambling where the financial and psychological risks can be high. Youth protection associations across Europe are calling for more robust control systems and increased awareness of the dangers of gambling among young people.

“Online gambling platforms need to implement more effective systems to verify the age of players. Simply ticking a box stating that they are of legal age is not enough.”

Van Houwelingen adds that parents should also be better informed about the risks and encouraged to control their children’s access to gaming accounts.

Schools face the challenge of online gambling

Schools, often on the front line when it comes to raising awareness among young people about the dangers of addictive behaviour, are also affected by this phenomenon. Henk Nijenkamp, ​​director of CSG Reggesteyn in Nijverdal, assures that his school has not observed a worrying increase in online gambling among pupils. He does, however, acknowledge that this problem could exist at an individual level.

“We pay a lot of attention to the well-being of our students, including in our mentoring classes where we cover topics such as social media use, vaping and mobile phone use. However, I am not sure that online gambling is part of these discussions.”

Henk Nijenkamp

In a context where young people seem to be increasingly exposed to the temptations of online gambling, the integration of specific prevention programmes could be a solution for schools. Raising awareness among young people about the consequences of gambling could help to curb this trend. In addition, parents and educators should be encouraged to talk openly about the risks of gambling, emphasising the short- and long-term dangers.

The access of minors to online casinos highlights the limits of current regulations and the ease with which young people can circumvent bans. The rise in online gaming among teenagers, even when they bet fictitiously, reflects a normalization of this potentially risky behavior. While experts are alarmed by the consequences, the challenge remains to more strictly regulate access to online gaming and to increase awareness among young people and parents.