GiH at ICE 2025: Save the date!
Although ICE has moved to Barcelona, Gaming in Holland/Gaming in Europe will continue to be present at the event.
In 2025, we will host the following mini events:
Gaming in Germany Breakfast
January 21, 09:00 – 11:00
Speaker: Sina Rencz-Baasch, Department Head Virtual Slot Games, GGL
Gaming in Holland Lunch
January 21, 12:30 – 14:30
Speaker: Michel Groothuizen, Chair, Netherlands Gambling Authority
Please note that places are strictly limited, and that preference will be given to paid conference attendees, who will receive a personal invitation by email.
If you would like to join the waitlist for our Gaming in Holland Lunch, please click here.
To join the waitlist for our Gaming in Germany Breakfast, please click here.
Please note that KSA Chair Michel Groothuizen will also make an appearance at the ICE World Gaming Forum, where he will discuss ad bans and deposit limits with DGOJ Director General Mikel Arana.
PS: If you are exhibiting at ICE (or otherwise participating) and need help organizing your tailor-made evening event, please consider contacting Sapyns: https://www.sapyns.com/ice2025.
Leaders in Compliance: ICE Networking Drinks & April Conference
Leaders in Compliance is a new initiative by Gaming in Europe that aims to bring together compliance professionals in the gambling sector, in which we are cooperating closely with compliance experts Chevron Consultants.
The inaugural Leaders in Compliance Conference will take place April 24-25, 2025, at the Hilton Frankfurt Airport Hotel, conveniently located directly adjacent to the airport terminal and interregional train station.
Additionally, everyone is cordially invited to attend the Leaders in Compliance Networking Drinks @ ICE.
The Leaders in Compliance Networking Drinks will take place January 20, 2025, in Barcelona. Additional details will follow soon.
Save the dates!
VAN Kansspelen appoints new board members
VAN Kansspelen, the trade association for land-based slot arcades, has appointed five new board members.
Berry van Gool, Niek Hommerson, Edwin Muller, Eric Olders, and Richard Stolwerk will join current board members Henry Meijdam, Robert Meijer, and Erwin Stoelinga.
Aad Kobus, Rob Kiffen, and Raymond Oosterbeek retired from the board due to reaching the maximum number of allowable terms.
Because of his great contributions to VAN Kansspelen over the years, Aad Kobus has been appointed as Honorary Chair of the association.
Vriendenloterij acquires naming rights of Dutch top-flight football league
Dutch lottery operator VriendenLoterij has acquired the naming rights of the men's Eredivisie football league from the 2025-2026 until the 2028-2029 season. During this time, the league will be known as the VriendenLoterij Eredivise.
VriendenLoterij has been a sponsor of the football league since 2005.
Netherlands Gambling Authority detects betting breaches
Following an investigation into licensees’ betting offers, the Netherlands Gambling Authority detected several breaches of its betting catalogue rules.
Seven Dutch licensees were found to have offered betting on events where competitors were under the age of 21. The regulator also detected that two licensees were offering prohibited bet types, such as betting on certain players to receive a red or yellow card, or total corners in a football match.
The regulator subsequently contacted all licensees involved and ordered them to cease offering prohibited bet types.
Björn Fuchs: “The political debate relies too much on headlines and beliefs, not enough on facts”
Björn Fuchs, Chief Digital Officer at the Janshen-Hahnraths Group, discusses player protection and the public and political backlash against online gambling in a wide-ranging and insightful interview.
German regulator: “Payment blocking is our most effective tool”
Acording to Nadja Wierzejewski, Head of Enforcement at the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), payment blocking is currently the regulator's “sharpest sword” in its fight against illegal online gambling.
Wierzejewski lauded the cooperation between the regulator and payment providers and noted that even in instances when the restrictions could be evaded, the extra effort required by players and illegal operators contributed to making Germany a less attractive market for unlicensed providers.
Brazil adopts gambling advertising restrictions ahead of market opening
A new ordinance from the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets (SPA) has immediately placed several advertising measures into effect, with the legal market now just weeks away.
The new rules ban advertising that has children or adolescents as their target audience, as well as advertising through channels where those under the age of 18 make up the majority of the audience.
Ads that use images of children or elements “particularly appealing” to minors are also banned.
Furthermore, operators are barred from sponsoring children’s teams or events that are aimed primarily at adolescents.
Finally, all communications from operators are now required to display age restrictions with the symbol “18+” or a message reading “prohibited for people under 18.”
Holland Casino announces cuts and lower RTP ratio in response to gambling tax increase
Holland Casino will be forced to cut costs and reduce return-to-player ratios as a result of the proposed two-step gambling tax increase from the current level of 30.5% to 34.2% in 2025 and 37.8% in 2026, the company's CEO, Petra de Ruiter said to Dutch financial daily FD.
Measures under consideration include a 20% reduction in expenditures at the operator's corporate headquarters and the introduction of a second zero on the roulette wheels in its venues.
Still, this will not be enough to compensate for the eventual 37.8% gambling tax rate, de Ruiter said. The latter rate is simply “not compatible with safe and responsible gambling” and would threaten the continuity of the organization, she added.
The proposed tax increase promises to have a severely negative impact on, particularly, the Dutch land-based gambling sector. Last week, JVH announced the closure of 23 out of 87 venues. Earlier this year, Dutch operator Janshen-Hahnraths Group also announced a reorganization that included significant cuts.
It was also recently announced that another leading land-based operator, Hommerson recorded €1.9m in losses in 2023. The coming tax increase can only add to the company's woes.