- Global online gaming giant Entain, parent company of partypoker, has applied for a license in the Netherlands and hopes to go live with real money online gaming around the middle of the year.
- partypoker also plans to apply for a license in Ontario, Canada, where the new regulated iGaming market opens up on April 4.
- Dutch online gaming, including poker, opened up in November last year, but a last-minute U-turn from the regulator meant that unlicensed operators had to exit the market while their applications were pending.
“The [Netherlands] application is in. We hope to get our license around the middle of the year and are planning as such”.
Global online gaming giant Entain, parent company of partypoker, has applied for a license in the Netherlands and hopes to go live with real money online gaming around the middle of the year, executives stated late last week.
partypoker also plans to apply for a license in Ontario, Canada, where the new regulated iGaming market opens up on April 4.
These announcements came during Entain’s full year financial results for 2021, which saw incremental net gaming revenue (NGR) growth of 7% year-over-year, with online NGR up 12%.
Dutch Decision
“The application is in,” said Rob Wood, Entain CFO, fielding a question about the Netherlands with investors last week. “We hope to get our license around the middle of the year and are planning as such. And then we’ll really have to wait and see how the performance goes from there. It might depend on a few things — which operators are getting licensed and in what order and so on.”
Dutch online gaming, including poker, opened up in November last year. However, a surprise U-turn from the regulator at the 11th hour meant that unlicensed operators had to exit the market while their applications were pending.
