Michel Groothuizen, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) Chair, issued a statement yesterday on proposals to make gambling safer for vulnerable people.
He started out by comparing gambling to drinking, in the sense that the public perceives a small amount of drinking as safe, despite experts saying that alcohol consumption is “always harmful”.
“It is now unimaginable that, fifty years ago, my father would get behind the wheel feeling fresh and alert after five or six beers without anyone batting an eye,” he said. “I have seen the normalisation of drinking decline sharply since my youth. With gambling, however, the trend is the exact opposite.”
Groothuizen continued to explain that with the rise of smartphones, sportsbooks and online casinos are more accessible than ever and “the barrier to giving in to the urge has become very low.”
Spend limits
While many international regulators try to guide people to limit their spending in relation to their income, Groothuizen had a rather refreshing take on the matter.
He said: “Using gambling regulations to implement income policy is difficult and – in my view – undesirable. How much should people be allowed to gamble away? Should the government even be deciding that for them?
“I am very wary of infringing upon citizens' freedom of choice and of making distinctions based solely on income. If someone wants to make risky yet potentially lucrative investments – such as buying SpaceX shares in the hope that the 'Tesla miracle' will repeat itself and make them a millionaire – it is their money and their choice.
“If someone prefers to gamble away their grandfather’s inheritance rather than use it to buy a home, it is undoubtedly unwise, but it is their money and their choice.”
Self-exclusion
The Netherlands has a self-exclusion register called Cruks, which currently has around 120,000 people registered on it. The minimum time-out period is six months, but Groothuizen confirmed that the State Secretary intends to extend this period to a year.
“That strikes me as a sensible plan,” he said. “Personally, I would even support a longer duration.”
But individuals can also be placed on the register if a gambling company or loved one applies on their behalf, with suitable evidence to back up the application. This is an empowering method for loved ones to help somebody who is experiencing gambling-related harm and feel a loss of control.
In the Netherlands, there are currently 250,000 people who are under financial administration and a further 25,000 under legal guardianship.
People may be placed on the Central Guardianship and Administration Register (CCBR) if they are suffering from alcohol or drug addiction and cannot be trusted to manage their own finances.
Groothuizen has proposed that anyone on the CCBR should be automatically added to Cruks for the duration of their legal guardianship.
“I once heard an addict say he was ‘glad’ to have a gambling addiction because, thanks to Cruks, he could relatively easily keep temptation at bay – something much harder to do with other addictions,” Groothuizen reflected. “We cannot close the door of the liquor store to the alcoholic, but we certainly can lock the door of the (legal) casino to the (future) addict.”
The KSA, otherwise known as the Netherlands Gambling Authority, was established in 2012
