Many years passed to push the legalization of online gambling through the government. In 2013, the Bill on Remote Gaming (Wet Koa) was first introduced. After approval by the House of Representatives in 2016, it took years before finally the Senate also approved it in 2019.
After the approval in 2019 all the conditions for a license came out and from April 1, 2021 it was possible to apply for a license.The government may take up to 6 months to process such an application. You would say that this leaves enough time for all parties to properly prepare for the day when everything will happen, October 1, 2021.
CRUKS not ready for the storm
In the end, 10 of the 29 applicants receive a positive assessment and notification that they will be granted a Dutch license. As of October 1, they may go live. Gambling enthusiasts in the Netherlands are eager to get started. Finally online gambling can be done legally in the Netherlands.
But soon everything comes to a standstill. The cause? It seems that the connection that CRUKS has to make with DigiD and the online providers is not working properly. Because of this, casinos cannot go online and it is decided to postpone everything for a few days.
Casinos with a Dutch license
New!
Casino777
Casino777
Welcome bonus 100% up to €250
Jacks Casino Online
100% Welcome Bonus up to £100
bet365
Deposit min €10 and receive 100 free spins
BetCity
Welcome bonus up to €100 free spins
Our best bonus!
Circus
Get a bonus up to €250
The online casinos first weeks
By now we’re two weeks in and seven of the ten licensees are online. These have slowly gone online one by one with fits and starts. Three are still waiting to go live and will do so in the near future. You would at least expect that the moment a casino actually goes live that everything in that casino is in order and works according to the rules. Especially if they fall under the supervision of the Ksa. Nothing is less true. Let’s go through them one by one.
Holland Casino Online
Holland’s most famous casino. Years of landbased experience they bring to the digital world. Still a few comments from players.
- The casino bonus is really only interesting for slots enthusiasts, why can’t it be used with poker?
- The old url is used for the online casino, this gives some problems for people who just want to go to the info of the branches of Holland Casino. It can be found but many players find it too difficult.
- A registration for the poker tournament MCOP earns a player 25 free spins. Is that allowed? Isn’t that persuading people to play online slots?
BetCity.com
Casino gets compliments on its appearance. When it came to live passage, there was still a small qualification.
- They offer a bonus spread over 3 deposits, which is not allowed in the Netherlands, Dis was immediately restored to a one-time bonus after 1 day.
- In the beginning there is no “live chat” and an email to the customer service unfortunately remains unanswered.
Fair Play CAsino
Sleek look with black and gold, is a bit bleak experienced by some players, but there is no accounting for taste.
- Very slow registration procedure. If you choose the manual registration it can take days before your validation is complete.
- Complaints from players that there is no bonus.
GGPoker
Fair is fair, this big player in the virtual poker world has its act together. Wonderful poker site that stands head and shoulders above the rest. However, they can do little about it.
- As a player at a “bad-beat-jackpot” table you can never win part of the jackpot. Fortunately, you won’t be paying for it either. But the point of playing at these tables is pretty much lost on you.
Batavia Casino
Batavia Casino is the quietest of the bunch, we don’t hear much about it.
- Registering and depositing is difficult at first. Contacting the help desk is not immediately successful. It is clearly understaffed. We give up after 30 minutes on hold.
TOTO
Credit where credit is due. As far as the casino part is concerned, this is by far the leader in the Netherlands at the moment. Everything looks top. Yet one point of attention.
- The TOTO app and the casino do not synchronize, you are thrown up and down from website to app and back. This is seen as annoying by loyal TOTO players
Bingoal
Ala seventh and for the time being last casino/sportsbook went online, but that doesn’t make it any less wrong.
- There are bets on offer which are not allowed in the Netherlands. Example: Who will win the smartest person this year?
- Also, you can still bet on corners and yellow cards in sports betting. This is also not allowed in the Netherlands.
- The logo of the Belgian licensing authority is used instead of the Dutch logo.
- All games can be viewed and some can also be played in practice mode without being registered and logged in as a player. This is prohibited.
Three more to go
At the time of writing, there are 7 providers with a Dutch license online. There are three more that will soon be available online.
- bet365. Probably the best sportsbook in the world and they also have a very good online casino. They are taking the plunge and are expected to enter the Dutch market shortly after October 25. Much is expected of this.
- Tombola. A British bingo site that also has a Dutch license. It is not entirely clear when they will go online, but they are expected to focus purely on online bingo, just like in Great Britain.
- LiveScoreBet. Known for the app that many soccer fans use to follow the score of soccer matches. They themselves have indicated that they will probably not go online in the Netherlands until 2022.
More will follow
As of April 2021, there were 29 parties that applied for a license. Ten were awarded it immediately, some were definitely rejected but also some simply did not submit their application complete. The expectation is that they will definitely receive this permit. Examples include Jack’s Casino and Polder Casino. They will be licensed in the near future. We think that in the summer of 2022 there will be over 30 legal online providers for the Dutch online gambling market.