Dutch advisory committee: legalize online poker

Yesterday a Dutch advisory committee came with a report of 63 pages in which the main message was to legalize online poker. They made a clear differentation between poker and other forms of gambling like casino and sports betting. According to the commission Jansen poker is different than other forms of gambling for a few reasons: 1. poker is by far the biggest form of online gambling in the Netherlands 2. poker is much more a skill game with a smaller chance of addiction than other forms of gambling and 3. poker is easier to regulate because of the nature of the game (e.g. the rules are more clear than most other games).

The commission advices to give out licenses to a few online poker rooms. Working with one state-owned provider is not desirable as it is expected that this provider will not be able to compete with the illegal foreign providers. Handing out too many licenses is also not desirable, so the commission recommends to hand out a few licenses to provide for a controllable environment.

The advisory committee recommends to block illegal poker providers by working together with credit card companies and Internet Service Providers. The advice follows on a decision from a Dutch local judge that poker should be treated as a game of skill. The soon-to-be-formed new government in the Netherlands will decide whether to implement the recommendations from the committee.

The report can be found here (in Dutch).

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