KSA Imposes Fine on Winning Poker Network for Unlicensed Gaming

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA)has fined illegal operator Winning Poker Network (WPN) €1,275,000. WPN allowed Dutch players without the necessary permit, which is prohibited.

Dutch players could go to the website americascardroom.eu to gamble illegally. The KSA then informed WPN that it intended to impose a penalty payment order, after which it would no longer be possible to play on the website. WPN owns several (illegal in the Netherlands) websites, including truepoker.eu. This website remained available to Dutch people, after which the KSA still imposed a penalty payment order on WPN, stating that it would stop offering the website on all its sites.

KSA Chair Michel Groothuizen said: “A penalty payment order is an effective way to quickly take illegal supply off the air. However, these types of parties should not think that they will get off easy with this, so we also impose fines for the violation committed. In doing so, we hit them where it really hurts, namely in their wallets.”

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In addition to imposing a penalty payment, the KSA can also impose sanctions for the period in which the illegal offer was available. This is also the case here. The imposed fine was increased due to so-called aggravating circumstances: practices that aggravate the seriousness of the offence. For example, WPN charged players extra costs if they had not logged in for a long time (inactivity costs) and it pretended to be a reliable party by brandishing a foreign licence. The KSA takes this type of consumer fraud very seriously.