Online gambling boom triggers surge in youth addiction, Dutch clinics warn
Dutch addiction specialists are raising urgent concerns about a sharp rise in gambling addiction among minors and young adults, triggered by the legalization of online gambling in 2021. Clinics across the Netherlands are seeing a growing number of young people seeking help, while experts warn that many more addicts remain hidden from view, De Telegraaf reports.
Chris, a 21-year-old from Noord-Brabant, began gambling online at age 16. By the time he sought help, he had already lost tens of thousands of euros. “One day I lost 20,000 euros. I had nothing left,” he told De Telegraaf. Over several years, he spent 500 to 1,000 euros each month on gambling.
His addiction began even earlier. At age 13, he started playing an online combat game in his bedroom that allowed players to buy cosmetic upgrades—known as “skins”—with real money. “You could change the color of your gun,” he said. Expensive skins were more rare and valuable. There were no age checks in place.
To gamble, Chris visited third-party roulette sites through the game platform, using purchased skins as bets. A loss meant he had to buy a new skin; a win could bring a rarer one. “In three years, it cost me at least 2,000 euros,” he told De Telegraaf.
By age 13, he had a personal debit card and opened gambling accounts independently. He earned money through odd jobs and later by working in hospitality. At 16, he advanced to crypto casinos, betting on e-sports matches using cryptocurrency. “Sometimes I would stay awake for 48 hours straight just to keep playing,” he told the newspaper.
Now undergoing treatment at addiction clinic Novadic-Kentron, Chris still struggles. “I want a normal life someday, with a wife and kids. And that’s not possible like this.”
Figures from the National Alcohol and Drugs Information System (LADIS) show a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking help for gambling addiction since legalization. Dutch clinics treated 1,968 gambling clients in 2022. In 2023, that number jumped to more than 2,708.
“The healthcare sector is only seeing the tip of the iceberg,” Ruth Peetoom, chair of the Dutch mental healthcare association (de Nederlandse ggz), told De Telegraaf. She cited a 2016 estimate of 79,000 people addicted to gambling and warned the figure has only grown. “We must reduce the risk of addiction,” she said.
Peetoom criticized gambling providers for failing to meet their legal duty of care, which requires monitoring and responding to risky behavior. “These companies track users only on their own platforms, but gamblers often play across many,” she told the newspaper. “These accounts need to be linked, with oversight.”
She praised a proposed cabinet plan to raise the minimum age for high-risk gambling products—such as fast-payout digital slot machines—from 18 to 21. Other forms would remain available to those 18 and older. “A good step,” she said.
Meanwhile, minors are reportedly increasingly exposed to online gambling. A study from the Scientific Research and Data Center (WODC) showed that online gambling among 16- and 17-year-olds rose from 12 percent to 20 percent in one year.
“This is deeply concerning,” Tony van Rooij of the Trimbos Institute, who specializes in gaming and digital behavior, told De Telegraaf. He pointed to the surge in licensed gambling providers since 2021 and noted the industry's profit-driven model. “These companies want to make as much money as possible,” he told the newspaper.
Although a ban has been placed on gambling ads in traditional media and sports venues, online ads remain legal on platforms where 95 percent of the audience is said to be over 24. Van Rooij noted that platforms like TikTok and Instagram are still widely used by minors. “So they still get exposed.”
The Dutch gambling ad market is reportedly also exploding. In 2023, about 70,000 online gambling ads were published. In the first half of 2024 alone, that number had already doubled. “We know these ads encourage youth to gamble,” Peetoom, who supports a total advertising ban, told De Telegraaf.
Chris’s parents only learned the extent of his addiction when he stole 5,000 euros from them. They had believed his gambling was occasional. Now that he is in therapy, they hope he can quit for good. “I still gamble sometimes,” Chris admitted to De Telegraaf. “But I want to stop.”
