Listen to this article:There is an abundance of licensed, legal online bingo sites and operators in the world, giving players plenty of choices and opportunities to play. However, there are also a number of unscrupulous operators who try to avoid paying their dues in order to increase profits.
Gambling regulators are continually working to crack down on these operators, and recently, the owner of the social media account Luxurybingods was issued two penalty orders by the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). The penalty orders were issued for advertising and offering bingo in the country without a licence.
This means that Luxurybingods will have to pay two fines. The penalty for organising bingo games is €19,000 per game up to a maximum of €190,000, and the penalty for advertising is €9,500 per advert up to a maximum of €95,000. Therefore, Luxurybingods may have to pay as much as €285,000 to the KSA.
Dutch laws allow businesses that have been operating for at least three years to run small games of chance, such as bingo, as long as the purpose of the organisation is not to run games of chance. Any such games must have top prizes of between €400 and €1,550, and there is a complete ban on advertising bingo. In fact, the rules ban the advertising of any games of chance in the Netherlands.
During its investigation, the KSA found numerous breaches of Dutch law by Luxurybingods. The investigation began following a visit by KSA representatives to the Harbour Club in Eindhoven on March 27 this year. They found that Luxurybingods had been running a bingo event without the necessary permit.
The inspectors found that tickets for the bingo games cost €65 each and that the top prizes were far above the maximum amount allowed by law. The investigators also found that the games had been “extensively” advertised on TikTok and they noted that the games were organised for the benefit of the operator.
When imposing the penalty orders, the KSA said that the chance of Luxurybingods reoffending is “high” as the company had previously run illegal bingo games at other locations and its Instagram account has been advertising such games since 2022.
The regulator said, “The organisation has already been reprimanded for this by KSA. The imposed penalty payment order prevents the person concerned from continuing to organise these types of bingos.”
While the penalty notices may be the end for Luxurybingods, there are plenty of opportunities to enjoy bingo in the Netherlands legally, both online and offline. There are several well-known international operators offering online bingo, such as bet365 and Tombola, as well as local operators, such as Bingoal.
Modern bingo events, such as Bongo’s Bingo and Old Skool Bingo, have been held with great success in the country. There are also local live bingo events, such as the Amsterdam Bingo Crew, which holds weekly bingo parties, and at Holland Casino, which holds regular themed events and more traditional evenings.
It is true that the Netherlands has some strict gambling laws run by the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), and the country recently increased its gambling tax rate, much to the disappointment of operators and players alike. The tax, which is currently 30.5% of Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR), will increase to 34.2% of GGR on 1 January 2025 and then to 37.8% of GGR on 1 January 2026. The government believes that this will generate an extra €202 million of tax revenue each year between 2025 and 2028. However, many in the gambling industry believe that it will lead to licensed operators leaving the market and an increase in unlicensed operators and black-market gambling.
Whether the industry’s predictions come true remains to be seen, but for now, bingo players in the Netherlands have little to worry about.
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