Three Game Arcades to Join Forces When Dutch Online Casinos Legalized

Three Dutch video game arcade companies which currently control 50% of the video game arcades in the Netherlands have decided to form a consortium to enter the Dutch online casino market. Hommerson, JVH Gaming (Jack Casino) and Janshen and Hahnraths (Fair Play Centers) have a combined turnover of € 175 million and have decided to join forces to better be able to compete against experienced and well financed foreign based online casinos in Netherlands.

At this time the government operated Holland Casino Monopoly, created under Dutch gambling laws, runs all casino style games of chance as well as poker.

The consortium of the three companies has already decided to use the Playtech online casino games and gambling platform to provide all online gambling options except the lotteries and the ability to bet on sports in Netherlands. Playtech, the powerhouse of online casino software already has a presence in the Netherlands at Holland Poker.

The three companies plan to get a competitive advantage by interlinking their exclusion lists of problem gamblers, cheaters and self-placed individuals who’ve declared a maximum gambling limit each week. The consortium believes that by doing so, the Dutch government will be more likely to grant them the coveted online gambling license.

Foreign based online casino in Netherlands will not be able to access the lists of the consortium thus allowing banned individuals at one online casino to quickly run to a different online casino. The Director of JHV Gaming stated that “Together we must ensure that online casino customers do not continue playing if the machines have reached their preset limit.”

Ideally the Dutch arcade game providers would like the government to create a gambling license similar to Belgium where one license covers both land based and online casinos. The Dutch companies need all the help they can get because online casino are well established with search engine keywords, have extensive search engine optimization experience and are gurus in the art of online marketing.