SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has extended the concession of Human Assistance Network for Daily Support (HANDS) to run the country’s Loket Kansspel gambling helpline.
Having already been the engine behind the problem gambling support service for a number of years now, HANDS will continue to offer players and those close to them assistance and guidance on gambling harm prevention.
Counsellors on the other side of the line are specially trained by HANDS to provide such help, and are available 24 hours a day throughout the week.
This gives KSA “sufficient reason to extend the current contract and continue to invest together in even better information provision on the website, even more effective interventions and even more visibility and brand awareness among the target group”.
According to KSA, more than 6,600 cases were registered in 2023 of players, friends and family members reaching out to Loket Kansspel either via phone or chat messaging to look for help relating to problematic gambling behaviour.
Earlier this month, the regulator published a study into Dutch online gambling trends, highlighting that the legal market saw activity across 1.1 million gambling accounts in 2023.
This number, however, does not fully represent the actual state of the regulated market, as KSA further stated that there are duplicates since players can use more than one account.
Regardless, the final conclusion suggested that 5% of the adult Dutch population has gambled online at least once in the second half of 2023.
The data additionally showed that people aged 18 to 23 are the most disproportionate group of account holders (22%) when compared to the average of other age groups (9.5%).
Therefore, KSA remains focused on maintaining high levels of harm prevention knowledge amongst the Dutch national player base.
Past educational campaigns include not only promotional initiatives around Loket Kansspel, but also the country’s self-exclusion scheme CRUKS – launched under the mandate of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) that regulated Dutch online gambling in 2021.
The KOA is up for review this October, with Legal Protection Minister Franc Weerwind calling for a number of amendments.
