State Secretary announces plans for 21-year-old age limit on certain gambling games

State Secretary Teun Struycken for Legal Protection is working on a plan to implement an age limit of 21 years or older for the riskiest gambling games, he reported in a letter to the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament. This is part of a larger package of measures that the NSC member announced after various investigations into problems in the gambling sector and the Tweede Kamer requested stricter rules.

He is going to look into the possible consequences of the plan and promised that he will be able to present the first version of his law proposal at the start of next year at the earliest.

Struycken also went along with the Tweede Kamer’s request by announcing mandatory overarching gambling limits. This is meant to prevent players from reaching their gambling limit on one site and then being able to continue gambling on a different site. People are only allowed to play above this limit if they are able to prove that this will cause no problems for their financial situation.

The Gambling Authority will also be given more power to combat illegal betting. This means that they can now block websites or discuss the matter with internet providers or banks. The regulator is also allowed to suspend licenses handed to legal gambling providers.

In 2021, the law came into effect that makes it possible to gamble legally on the internet under strict conditions. Struycken said after the Cabinet meeting that the choices made at the time when creating the law have not worked out well in practice. He concluded from research that there are "far too many groups playing far too risky games there and far too many have already ended up in addiction care. So that really did not go well.”

Many young adults and young people in particular who are not allowed to gamble at all have a gambling problem. The state secretary said he wants to further tighten the duty of care of gambling companies, to help prevent the players from getting into trouble.

But raising the minimum age for the riskiest games of chance could encourage those younger than 21 to seek options from providers offering them illegally, said NOGA, the interest group for online gambling providers in response. They pointed out that the Dutch Gambling Authority already believes half of the money is being gambled illegally.

“The regulator indicates that it needs more resources to take a stand against this, and we hope that they will get it. We are happy to hear that the fight against illegal supply is getting more priority,” said NOGA director Eric Konings.

The Scientific Research and Data Centre (WODC) provided the advise for the overarching limit. The organization also recommended maximum betting limits. In an experiment, there was a partial improvement observed when adjusting gambling sites. People who had to enter their own limit chose a lower amount than people who could make a choice from a few pre-selected amounts.

This also happened when people could set a monthly amount. But both groups gambled the same amount, ultimately “the amount of money wagered and the duration of the game did not change."

“We support the idea of ​​no longer focusing solely on addiction prevention in gambling policy, but to strive to prevent gambling-related harm,” says Konings. He spoke on behalf of gambling providers, including Bet365 and Unibet parent company Kindred Group.