The Stars Group hit with €400,000 Dutch fine
Operator fined for offering PokerStars website to Dutch players without a licence
The Stars Group has received a €400,000 fine from the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) for offering online gambling to Dutch players without a licence.
Officials from the KSA issued the fine under the so-called “prioritisation criteria” following an investigation which found the Pokerstars.eu website could be reached by Dutch players from July 2018 to January 2019.
In addition to being accessible to Dutch players, the Pokerstars.eu website offered players the choice to use the iDEAL payment method and featured a player contact form in Dutch.
Investigators also found that the Netherlands was not included on a list of countries from which participation was not permitted. Links to two Dutch-facing organisations dealing with gambling-related harm were also included on the site.
In addition two Dutch poker players were also featured as part of the Team PokerStars Netherlands on the website.
In a hearing with KSA officials, the Stars Group said it stopped transactions via iDEAL from the end of August 2018. TSG also dismissed claims over the use of the Dutch language on its website, saying this was intended for Dutch-speaking individuals in other countries.
The Stars Group also dismissed the presence of Dutch poker players on the site, claiming the players operate internationally and were not specifically relevant to the Dutch market.
It also said references to Dutch treatment centres for gambling-related harm were “not relevant” as it provided support for many such services in countries where it is not directly licensed.
However, these arguments were dismissed by the KSA.
A spokesperson for The Stars Group said it was reviewing its options pending a possible appeal, adding the firm had worked constructively and “cooperated in good confidence” with the Dutch authorities for the last ten years.
“In our view, we have not specifically targeted Dutch players, in accordance with the prioritization criteria and the recent (draft) policy rules of the KSA, published 12 July. Given this context, we were surprised that the KSA commenced enforcement proceedings against us,” the spokesperson added.
The fine could curtail the company’s ambitions to enter the Dutch market when it regulates in 2021.
Initial legislation suggests that companies would be prevented from applying for a Dutch licence for two years after the time they actively targeted the Dutch market.
This suggests Stars might be forced to wait to apply until January 2021 rather than 1 July 2020 when other operators can apply.
Stars is the latest major operator to be fined by the KSA, joining the likes of Kindred, Betsson, GVC and William Hill.