NETHERLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Alan Littler, Justin Franssen and Chris Adriaansz, Franssen Tolboom
Games That Are Exempt From the Licence Requirements Several forms of gambling are exempt from the “pro- hibited unless licensed” approach, including small- scale gambling and promotional games of chance. Land-based bingo games can only be offered when they fall within one of these categories.
ments. This section provides a general overview of licensable land-based games of chance. The indi- vidual licensing systems are explained further in 4.3 Types of Licences . Readily Available Licences An unlimited number of licences are available for slot machines. Slot machines can be located in cafés or restaurants targeted towards people over 18 years of age, and in slot-machine arcades. Municipalities determine whether slot machines are permitted within their area and, if so, which other restrictions apply (eg, zoning, maximum number and opening times). An unlimited number of licences are also available for charity lotteries; however, these licences are subject to conditions, including a prohibition on generating private profits. Furthermore, all such offers must be for the public good, with 40% of revenue going to good causes. Semi-Permanent Licences Single licences exist in the field of horse race bet- ting, sports betting, the instant lottery, and the Lotto. The Lotto is a game in which participants predict a given number of symbols from a predefined range and, subsequently, a draw is made. The instant lot- tery is offered in the form of scratch cards ( krasloten ), whereby prizes are allocated to tickets before sales commence. Licences for these sectors are referred to as semi- permanent because they are valid for a period of five years and have been reallocated to incumbent licence holders in 2022. Permanent Monopolies Casino gambling (including poker) is offered by the state-owned Holland Casino, which enjoys a perma- nent monopoly. Furthermore, the state lottery licence was granted to the Staatsloterij BV in 2022 for an indefinite period. The latter effectively perpetuates the permanent monopoly that has long been enjoyed for offering what is essentially “the national lottery”.
3. Legislative Framework 3.1 Key Legislation
The BGA and the Betting and Gambling Tax Act (BGTA) are the primary laws that specifically regulate gambling in the Netherlands. 3.2 Definition of Gambling According to the BGA, “games of chance” consist of two elements: • an opportunity to compete for prizes or premiums; and • the designation of winners by a means over which the participants are generally unable to exercise a dominant influence. A prize or premium is defined broadly. The definition includes monetary prizes and in-kind prizes. Payment of a stake is not required for a game to be considered a game of chance under the BGA, which increases the prospect of individual games being found to con- stitute gambling in the Netherlands when contrasted with other jurisdictions. 3.3 Definition of Land-Based Gambling Land-based gambling is not defined separately in legislation. The BGA only mentions those games of chance for which one or more licences can be award- ed. 3.4 Definition of Online Gambling Remote games of chance are defined by reference to the general definition of “game of chance”, as provid- ed in 3.2 Definition of Gambling . Additionally, accord- ing to the BGA, the following two elements must be present:
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