Lawsuit seeks to reimburse Dutch players who lost money offshore

After a successful ruling in a court in Austria where a player won a lawsuit to be reimbursed by an unlicensed firm, something similar is underway in the Netherlands

A class-action lawsuit is being prepared by lawyers who represent the advocacy group Gokverliesterug which claims that any money lost by gamblers before gambling became legal in the Netherlands in October 2021 should be reimbursed to players.

Popular gambling companies named in lawsuit to reimburse gambling winnings

This could leave gambling companies, many of which are respectable names in the industry, on the hook for what is in all likelihood significant sums. The suit is not trying to play whack-a-mole either, with the plaintiffs reportedly seeking to name Unibet, PokerStars, bwin, and bet365 as the operators that will bear the legal brunt of the lawsuit.

According to various Dutch media sources, there are as many as 20,000 people who may be seeking to be reimbursed in the case.

Bwin and PokerStars already had to reimburse players for $505,000 in a case ruled over by an Overjissel district court this year, meaning that there is a precedent that could be used as the basis of new litigation.

However, the plaintiffs cannot expect to win a case whereby a court would order a full reimbursement of what could be hundreds of millions of dollars wagered and lost, although the exact numbers would only be known to the companies that are named in the lawsuit, and that allegedly accepted illegal gambling wagers.

A collective settlement seems more likely, but this would still require a court to side with the plaintiffs in the first place.

In a translated copy of the case, Finch lawyer Koen Rutten had this to say: "Illegal gambling providers are aware of this. They pull out all the stops to keep people playing as long as possible with promotions and bonuses. With our action, we want to ensure the perpetrators are presented with the bill for these kinds of illegal practices."

There is precedent to back the claim, but a favorable ruling is a litmus test for the Netherlands

The key issue argued by the lawyer is that people were misled to gamble extensively with bonuses and promotions that were specifically designed to galvanize players to keep coming back.

The current regulatory framework in the Netherlands is much more austereandstricter when it comes to the type of bonuses that are allowed and who may see them. The Netherlands has indeed developed a tight regulatory framework in which it ensures that every player is protected.

People under the age of 24 may not be targeted by gambling advertising, for example. All ads that are taking place somewhere where people can see must comply and only be visible to individuals who are of the legal gambling age and meet the advertising restrictions criteria.

Gambling advertising is an increasingly sensitive issue, as the Netherlands is still debating how it should work out the final details of a well-regulated gambling framework.

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