The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) is taking action against gambling venues featured in a PowNed investigation after a reporter registered with Cruks was able to bypass exclusion controls using identification belonging to other people.
PowNed reporter Abel Bijlsma registered for a six-month gambling stop before testing access procedures at 10 land-based casinos and gaming halls. According to the investigation, he was denied entry in all five attempts where he presented his own identification, indicating that the Cruks database identified his exclusion correctly.
However, Bijlsma gained entry in three of five attempts made with identification belonging to colleagues who were not registered with Cruks. One successful attempt took place at Holland Casino Eindhoven, where an employee questioned differences between Bijlsma and the photograph on the identification document before ultimately allowing him to enter.
The findings have shifted scrutiny towards identity verification at venue entrances. Dutch regulations require operators to establish and verify a visitor's identity before checking whether that individual is recorded in Cruks. Licensed casinos and gaming halls must refuse access when the register returns a match.
Cruks has been operational since October 2021 and applies across licensed online gambling, gaming halls and Holland Casino. A voluntary gambling stop lasts at least six months.
The KSA said the PowNed investigation demonstrated that Cruks works when individuals present their own identity documents, while also exposing the reliance of land-based access controls on staff correctly establishing the visitor's identity.
The regulator said: "It should not have happened that someone registered in Cruks enters an arcade using another person's identification."
It added that it is taking action involving the casinos and gaming halls named in the broadcast.
The KSA issued guidance for gaming halls in September 2025 covering Cruks and identity controls, alongside a step-by-step identity-checking process for entrance staff.
The investigation has also reached parliament. JA21 MP Ingrid Coenradie submitted questions on identity fraud, staff training, photograph matching and possible measures to strengthen casino entrance checks.
In August, KSA research found minors are commonly exposed to gambling before reaching legal gambling age, while 28% of underage vocational students surveyed reported gambling during the previous year.
Cruks checks became mandatory for licensed Dutch online operators, gaming halls and Holland Casino when the register became operational in October 2021
