TV show Lubach exposes illegal gambling site with bets on prime minister
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10 Oct 2025 •
Reading time: 3 minutes During the broadcast of De Avondshow met Arjen Lubach, a popular programme on Dutch television, the topic ‘Who will be the new prime minister of the Netherlands?’ took on a striking gambling angle. Lubach showed a screenshot of Polymarket, a foreign website where people can bet on the next prime minister of the Netherlands.
The broadcast showed that CDA leader Henri Bontenbal is doing well in the polls and is the subject of bets. ‘He’s going like a rocket,’ joked Lubach, after which the betting market ‘Next Prime Minister of the Netherlands’ appeared on the screen.
Lubach shows clip with questionable quote about gambling
Several politicians were featured in the satirical segment “Lubach’s Campaign Carousel”. A clip from De Telegraaf was shown in which Bontenbal was asked about gambling on his chances. He responded with something along the lines of, ‘We are against gambling, you shouldn’t gamble.’
Interestingly, it is not certain whether that statement really came from Bontenbal. The broadcast suggests that the quote may have been generated by AI. Whether that is really the case remains unclear.
Online betting on elections is prohibited in the Netherlands.
In the Netherlands, it is not permitted to legally gamble on election results or political candidates. The images shown from the Polymarket gambling site therefore originate from a platform that does not have a licence from the Kansspelautoriteit.
Polymarket is a prediction market that works with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. The bets on that site fall under international grey areas and are regularly discussed in tech media.
Lubach returns to the theme of gambling
The comment about Polymarket is not the first time Arjen Lubach has sunk his teeth into gambling-related topics. Earlier, in Zondag met Lubach, he lashed out at the Dutch Lottery’s King TOTO campaign. At the time, that clip even prompted questions in Parliament.
In later broadcasts, he also discussed the duty of care of online casinos and the ease with which players can become addicted. In doing so, he heavily criticised the Remote Gambling Act.
Criticism of broadcasting and use of illegal sites
Not everyone is happy with the way Lubach draws attention to gambling sites. The founder of CasinoZorgplicht criticised the use of images of an illegal casino in a popular programme. According to him, this legitimises the use of gambling sites that are not regulated.
In the Netherlands, you are only allowed to gamble through licensed providers. Anyone who does so on foreign sites, such as Polymarket, is on thin ice. This is also a point that former solicitor Antti Koivula often points out. In his profile about his fight against gambling abuses, he calls these types of foreign platforms a direct threat to consumer protection.
Political betting remains a grey area, but is growing online
Although political betting is prohibited in the Netherlands, the range of options offered by foreign sites is growing rapidly. Platforms such as Polymarket and Kalshi attract users worldwide who bet on everything from elections to sports to the weather.The Finnish government also recently spoke out about the threat posed by these new forms of gambling. The emergence of these types of markets presents new challenges for governments worldwide.