Holland Casino to worsen roulette odds, cut jobs to make up for gambling tax increase

Holland Casino is taking measures in order to save costs and increase profits. The casino chain is going to start a pilot which will lower the chances of winning at roulette, and jobs at the company's headquarters are being cut. The measures must be taken because the gambling tax will increase next year, a spokesperson for Holland Casino confirmed after reporting in the Financieele Dagblad.

The gambling tax will be raised from 30.5 percent to 34.2 percent next year. Holland Casino is expecting costs to increase by 30 million euros. The casino chain has said that they want to use the cost-cutting measures and increase in turnover to afford this.

One way to increase turnover is to add a double zero to roulette tables. It is an experiment to reduce players' chances of winning and see what the measure does, according to a spokesperson. "That may also mean that people go home earlier and that it does not increase turnover," he adds.

Holland Casino wants to cut a “significant” number of jobs at the headquarters in Hoofddorp. It is not yet clear how many and which jobs this is pertaining to, according to the spokesperson. According to the company, a total of 3,500 people work at the casino chain. Holland Casino wants to reduce costs by 20 percent with the job reductions.

The company wants to cover two-thirds of the costs due to the higher gambling tax with cost savings. The remainder consists of sales increases. This also includes price increases in catering establishments in the casinos.

The spokesperson said that the company is going to take the upcoming time to look into how the measures will be implemented and expects more clarity to be announced regarding this in the new year.

In addition to the increase in gambling tax, he said that Holland Casino is also struggling with the higher costs of wages, interest rates, and energy. Holland Casino suffered a loss of 3.5 million euros in the first half of this year, partly due to sharply increased costs. CEO Petra de Ruiter warned of further losses due to the higher gambling tax.