The Dutch gambling regulator has warned financial penalties will be imposed if it finds illegal bingo has been organised again by an organisation it has previously cracked down on.
The regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) said it will issue a penalty payment of €8,000 on the Dordtse Queens for each future occasion an illegal bingo session is found to have taken place, up to a maximum of €80,000.
In November last year the KSA shut down an illegal bingo operation from the Dordtse Queens. The organisation, the KSA said, continued to organise and advertise illegal bingo sessions despite being reprimanded once before.
The KSA has therefore now imposed separate penalty payment orders on the two organisers, who it said could also face €4,000 sanctions every time advertising for an illegal bingo session comes to light – up to a maximum of €40,000.
“The KSA is increasingly seeing illegal bingo nights that do not meet the requirements of a small game of chance and where large prizes can be won,” the regulator said.
Dutch regulations state that bingo can be organised as a “small game of chance” among people who know each other, for example family and friends or residents in a nursing home.
However, the total value of the prizes must not exceed €1,550. If the session in question meets these requirements, the organisation in charge of the session must report the bingo game to its municipality for permission.
In the November raid on the Dordtse Queens, the KSA said around 200 people were present.
“The KSA sees that people are not always aware of the rules surrounding bingo and lotteries,” it said. “For bingo, participation in an illegal bingo is in principle also punishable, and that minors are not allowed to participate anyway.
“Organisers of illegal lotteries and bingo also risk a sanction, such as the above-mentioned penalty payments.”
