The Dutch Gaming Authority (Ksa) has imposed a fine of €1,125,000 on Blue High House S.A. for offering online gambling without the required permit.

This is prohibited, Blue High House had previously been given a penalty payment order for the illegal offer.

On the website betonline.ag, owned by Blue High House, Dutch players could participate in online gambling. No measures had been taken to keep players out of the Netherlands. During its investigation, the Ksa found various abuses that led to a higher fine than the basic fine of €600,000 being imposed. The offer on the aforementioned website has now been stopped, but the Ksa is closely monitoring whether the provider does not offer illegal gambling on the Dutch market again via other channels. If the Ksa does find this, new sanctions may follow.

Michel Groothuizen, chairman of the board of the Ksa: ‘The Netherlands has a legal market to ensure that people who want to gamble can do so safely. With illegal providers, such as in this case blue high house, we often see that risky gaming behavior is not taken into account in any way. For example, players can create an account on this website without having to verify their age, which means that minors can also play. We also saw things like autoplay and turboplay, which can encourage excessive gaming, and there were no gaming limits. The Ksa takes tough action against these types of illegal websites.’