Official language: Dutch
Population: 16,440,113
Currency: Euro (EUR)

Current Exchange Rate
1 GBP = 1.0681 EUR
1 USD = 0.6754 EUR

Quick links
Online casinos in Netherlands
Online poker in Netherlands
Online sportsbooks in Netherlands
Online bingo in Netherlands

Gambling in Netherlands
Gambing is legal throughout the Netherlands, but is restricted and tightly controlled by the government. In fact, all gambling in the country takes place under a state monopoly called Holland Casino. The company has been in operation since the mid 70s when it opened the first Dutch casino. Today there are 14 across the country.

The monopoly operates under the name Fair Play, and the phrase can be found in the name of all Dutch casinos. The Dutch government justifies the gambling monopoly in the face of strong EU criticism by insisting that strict control over all gambling operations in the country promote positive gambling and fair play for all parties involved.

Online Gambling in Netherlands
The situation regarding online gambling in the Netherlands is more complicated. The Dutch government has long been opposed to letting foreign online gambling sites operate in their country. They have been actively opposing internet gambling since 2005. Technically, the Dutch are allowed to gamble at internet sites that are hosted in the Netherlands, but the Dutch government has yet to give out any licenses, so there are no Dutch online gambling sites.

The government's negative feelings towards online gambling are so strong that in early 2008 the government sent a blacklist of foreign internet gambling sites to Dutch banks, insisting that they do not deal with them. The banks ignored the requests, saying the blacklists were illegal. The struggle continues today, and the EU is putting strong pressure on the Dutch government to break up the monopoly.