Dutch arcades should only have games of skill, says the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the gaming authority in the Netherlands.
There should be no games of chance in the arcade halls, it says, having carried out research into the subject. It complains that if the arcades have payout machines then they could come into contact with minors.
In this sense the subject matter is not the arcades, which are often labelled casino in the Netherlands, with AWP machines in a luxury setting, but critically with strictly adult-admittance.
FEC Netherlands, the trade association, says that it represents around 70 per cent of the country’s arcade halls and in a letter to the authority it states that the games of chance must disappear from arcades. Meanwhile, they should not be played by minors.
This may impact ticket redemption games, however, which are widely accepted internationally as fun with prizes.
The KSA has been talking with the industry for some time on this subject. Arcade halls, also known as amusement centres, often contain fairground machines. The Games of Chance Act makes an exception for these machines as far back as 1964, envisioning vending machines at travelling fairs and in amusement and holiday parks. The risk of developing gambling addiction in places where people stay for a short time was considered small, says the KSA in a report. This meant that no model inspection and permission, plus operating permit, were required for fairground machines. This disadvantage, says the KSA, is that proper supervision is not possible.
It notes that permanent entertainment centres, such as arcade halls, have sprung up in many places, mainly with fairground machines. The KSA is concerned because minors could come into contact with games of chance. In 2017 it ran an initial investigation into the arcade halls and follow-up research shows that arcade halls have many fairground machine that contain games of chance to a greater or lesser extent.
It notes: “A fairground machine differs from a gaming machine in that the fairground machine does not pay out money, but does pay other forms of prize, such as coupons or goods in kind. They may represent a value of up to 40 times the stake.”
The FEC Netherlands has asked for an amendment to current legislation so that fairground machines with games of chance are no longer possible. The KSA has endorsed the request.
