Dutch legality issues for poker!?!

[Nicc]

Hi All,

I am slightly confused about the Dutch gaming market. i had a brief conversation with a friend, who works for a poker brand, the other day and he mentioned that they do quite well out of the Dutch market. Now I did some research on the Dutch Market and it looks like a total sod of a market as they are trying to implement what looks like a very protectionist system and have gone as far as threatening banks that handle payments from foreign operators.

I feel like I have missed something in all this. Granted there are a lot of potential players in the Netherlands but why would affiliates drive players to a foreign operated site if there is a good chance that their players may not get their payments blocked? This stance would also seem to suggest that foreign operators cannot operate within their country however i have seen nothing that explicitly bans them. This must also be against EU competition law? It would also seem like a lot of hassle for the operators themselves to invest in breaking into a very grey looking market!

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Cheers

Nic

[elgoog]

sorry, short answer to

threatening banks that handle payments from foreign operators

the banks did not comply sofar, they refuse to cooperate

[Nicc]

Hi Elgoog,

Ah i see...sounds like it has good potential to get ugly. Has the Dutch governments stance had any affect on sites that advertise the poker rooms?

Seems odd that in a number of states where they are trying to ban online gaming there does not seem to be action against affiliate sites that advertise the poker rooms.

[Betpartners]

The Dutch cannot even be clear on their laws on porn and dope so what chance has poker got.

But like almost everywhere its confusing when it comes to all the different aspects of gambling

The one constant with most EU countries is they are hypocrites

[alexpratt]

The Dutch situation is an interesting one to watch as I don't think the gov will back down that easily - When we put on our event last year we had contact from a couple of major papers there asking us what the hell we were doing in Holland and visit from the local police which I had to sit with for 2 hours convincing them we were about international traffic and not Dutch traffic.

Elgoog what happened to the cease and desist letters the Dutch gov sent to all the operators?

[Nicc]

So i think i have this now.......

Online Gaming not technically illegal but being channeled toward a monopoly solution and putting out the threats to other EU operators and banks etc.

Operators are still advertising to Dutch players (Elgoog i see you have Dutch ad's for Everest) so there is obviously a view that the Dutch regulations are enforceable / unworkable.

If they are, as Alex points out, sending letters telling operators to stop operations in Holland are they also going to threaten the affiliates that carry the advertising e.g. Elgoog?

It just seems odd that countries like Holland and Portugal are going down the state monopoly route but the operators in both cases seem to pay very little attention...especially the Casino / poker sites. Although the Bwin argument in Portugal does seem to be based on the Sportsbook as Bwin sponsored the football league on which it was also accepting bets, causing concerns about corruption......so why does it affect all online gaming?

I assume it would also be very dodgy to be an affiliate manager for these countries unless you are based outside the country?


What a system!!!!!! What happend to the happy EU market of one system of free trade across markets for all?

[elgoog]

Elgoog what happened to the cease and desist letters the Dutch gov sent to all the operators?

i don't know about cease and desist letters sent to all the operators???
but once every two years orso the Dutch gov. is sendig out these to some affiliate sites,
than we take them down, or do nothing and leave them up.
Untill now there is never a penalty/fine or whatever imposed.

[bbonline]

I'm afraid if it will took the same as what happened in China. Are they really targeting Europe countries after to Asia?

[Nicc]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replies on this topic. Seems that the Dutch government is more 'bark' than 'bite' when it comes down to enforcement. Where can I find a recent report on the Dutch market? Seen ones for loads of other EU states but not a Dutch one!

On the same note does anyone have any experience of the Portuguese market.....or is that a whole different can of worms? They seem to be another one leaning to monopoly side of things.

Nic