Dutch authorities to keep a close eye on Holland Casino

The Dutch Kansspelautoriteit (Gaming Authority) has announced that it is to tighten surveillance on the former state land casino monopoly trading under the Holland Casino brand.

The Holland Casino group was placed into receivership with Euro 60 million of debts by its bankers recently, and according to Dutch media reports there are fears that the company’s new focus on boosting player revenues rather than seeking a public listing could result in a greater risk of problem gambling.

The Volkskrant newspaper reported Friday that the regulator intends to conduct more frequent notified and unnotified inspection visits to Holland Casino properties over the next year, and that Management will be required to submit more detailed and frequent operational reports on the 14 casinos owned by the group, with particular emphasis on responsible gaming measures and results.

Holland management was apparently surprised by the announcement, but said it remained positive about the future and would fully cooperate.

Holland’s interim director Willem-Jan van den Dijssel, has reportedly been at loggerheads with the unions on a new collective agreement in an attempt to reduce personnel costs, currently running at 60 percent of fixed operational costs.

The Dutch government has future plans to introduce regulated and licensed online gambling, and the necessary processes are currently in preparation.