KSA Imposes €1.1M Fine on Blue High House

The Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) has imposed a fine of €1,125,000 on Blue High House SA for offering online games of chance without the necessary permit. This is prohibited. Blue High House had previously been given a penalty payment order for the illegal offer.

On the website betonline.ag, owned by Blue High House, Dutch players could participate in online gambling. No measures had been taken to keep players from the Netherlands out. During its investigation, the KSA found various abuses that led to a higher fine than the basic fine of €600,000 being imposed. The offer on the website in question has now been stopped, but the KSA is closely monitoring that the provider does not offer illegally on the Dutch market again via other channels. If the KSA does find this, new sanctions may follow.

Michel Groothuizen, chairman of the board of the KSA, said: “The Netherlands has a legal market to ensure that people who want to gamble can do so safely. With illegal providers, such as in this case blue high house, we often see that risky gaming behavior is not taken into account in any way. For example, players can create an account on this website without having to verify their age, which means that minors can also play. We also saw things like autoplay and turboplay, which can encourage excessive gaming, and there were no gaming limits. The KSA takes tough action against these types of illegal websites.”