Netherlands to Liberalize Online Gambling Regulation

The Overijssel District Court ruled gambling agreements from the gray market era are “null and void.” That’s bad news for operators PokerStars and Bwin, which were ordered to reimburse two players about $450,000 in total.

To celebrate its two years of operations in the Netherlands, GGPoker announces a special celebratory tournament series exclusively for Dutch players.

The Netherlands online casino and sports betting market is now well into its second year, but choices remain limited. It is not clear when —or if — PokerStars, partypoker and 888 will launch online poker.

Kindred Group launches a full service in the Dutch market; online poker players can now choose between Unibet, GGPoker and iPoker.

Kindred is first out of the “cooling off” gate, confirming to PRO that Unibet Poker will launch alongside casino and sports in NL soon.

Operator sponsors local football team Almere City as it takes full advantage of being one of only two licensed Dutch online poker rooms.

GGPoker becomes the first regulated online poker room in the Netherlands, but a malfunction with the CRUKS self-exclusion tool makes for a faulty launch.

Flutter, Entain, 888 and Kindred all hastily turn off their services in the Netherlands, but confusion around the new market swirls.

All other online poker operators are now expected to leave the market as they await licenses.

Many international online poker operators, including PokerStars, partypoker and Unibet, may now have to exit the Netherlands during their “cooling off” period.

GGPoker, Holland Casino Online and Bet365 could be the first regulated online poker rooms in the Netherlands.

After multiple delays, the Remote Gambling Act finally came into effect on April 1, with the go-live date for the Dutch gaming market set for October 1.