Dutch Online Casino Bill Rejected by Upper House Parliament

Holland’s one and only gambling monopoly, Holland Casino, has had its hopes to temporarily set up an online casino shot down this week. Being relatively slow to jump on the online casino gambling band-wagon, the Dutch Parliament initially approved a bill in late 2006 for the company to open up shop at an online casino for an experimental trial period, yet the Upper House defeated the bill with a narrow vote of 35-37, according to the Senate Web.

Despite that the possibility of a new bill to be passed for a Holland Casino online casino in the future, the current bill’s rejection by the Upper House comes as excellent news for online casino operators Bwin, Sportingbet, and Party Gaming, who are currently the only websites accepting Dutch players. If the bill were to have been passed, it would have made online casino gambling a legalized action in the process, and no doubt many Dutch gamblers would have flocked to what they consider a well-respected Dutch brand.

The online casino gambling situation in Europe is growing increasingly dire, with many European countries struggling with revised legislations and inconsistency among the Union. Whilst the UK, for example, enjoys a somewhat liberal gambling market, other countries such as the Netherlands and Greece have been restricted heavily by the European Commission. Other members such as Germany and France maintain a monopoly run online casino industry. Hopefully, a new Dutch bill will be introduced shortly.

Related Headlines:

19 Jan 2010	State-owned Danske Spil joins forces with PartyGaming Europe's sixth largest gaming operator, PartyGaming has announced a ground-breaking deal which will bring on-line poker and casinos to the Danes
30 May 2007	eCOGRA Releases New Test For Online Casino Sites' Credibility
3 Sep 2009	Mobile Gambling Industry Enjoying Increased Growth and Popularity
27 May 2008	Online Casino Gambling in Europe – Where Does Each Country Stand?