René Jansen wants to see more done at land-based venues

René Jansen, the outgoing Chairman of the Dutch Gambling Authority or Kansspelautoriteit as the regulator is known for its Dutch name, recently spoke at the Casino Operations Summit in Amsterdam, in which he outlined several points that he would still like to see addressed. This comes shortly after lawmakers announced that they would push for the ban of online games of chance in the Netherlands.

The gambling industry has come a long way, Jansen noted, with the country passing comprehensive advertisement and player-protection rules, but there was room for more improvement, the outgoing executive said. For one, Jansen urged land-based venues to do more to address certain problems, particularly responsible gambling.

Jansen has expressed confidence that the sector can in fact do much more to promote responsible gambling in physical locations. The outgoing chairman has also taken a personal interest in whether specific responsible gambling measures have been good enough.

Jansen gave an example with his visits to venues such as arcades and found out that the arcades did not in fact offer time limits for players, which was worrying given that arcades can operate 24 hours a day. Some arcades actually did not limit the maximum number of machines that a player could sit and play at the same time.

"The problem is covered in the established addiction prevention policy of the halls visited. All arcades visited agree that a long or increasing playing time is a worrying signal that may indicate excessive participation in a game of chance and the risk of addiction. But how to monitor this or how to keep track of the playing time? This was subsequently not elaborated upon," Jansen said in a translated segment from his speech at the regulator’s website.

Furthermore, players were allowed to bet on multiple machines at the same time. Speaking beyond responsible gambling, Jansen noted that the KSA has also been assisting active investigations into illegal gambling operations, helping facilitate investigations into illegal poker tournaments, lotteries and even bingos. There have been reports, Jansen noted, that these types of activities have been increasing, which had motivated the regulatory to do more.

Jansen also said that there were some difficulties with the implementation of Cruks checks at arcades. One of the issues flagged by the regulator and Jansen’s speech was that sometimes players might avoid submitting themselves to Cruks checks and go straight for the arcade machines, which was something that was an easily avoidable issue, Jansen noted.

Overall, Jansen said that the sector can easily do more to bolster responsible gambling and ensure that consumers who visit land-based venues are much better protected.

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