Holland Casino Effort to Open Online Casino Shot Down
Online gambling was dealt a hit this week in Europe when Holland Casino's effort to join the industry of online casinos was shot down by the Dutch parliament. Two years ago, the Lower House voted in favour of a bill which would have allowed this on a trial basis but the Upper House disagreed. It was an extremely close vote with 37 members against and 35 in favour although the initiative could arise again in the future as part of another bill. This comes after more than a year of cooperation between Holland Casino and leading online gambling software provider Cryptologic. Holland Casino, a brick-and-mortar casino, has a gambling monopoly in the country.
Only two months ago, the European Commission warned Holland regarding their protectionist behaviour in the online gambling industry which goes against EU efforts to open up trade and business opportunities throughout the continent. While this influenced the vote, it is thought that many parliament members also were against increasing gambling in their own country.
While this decision was also hurtful to Cryptologic as well, the company's President and CEO Brian Hadfield said that they have taken precautions to deal with this possibility. "While advocates of safe, secure and regulated e-gaming are disappointed with the Dutch decision, CryptoLogic never places all its bets on one table."
If passed, the resultant online casino would have infringed upon the success of online casinos Sportingbet, PartyGaming, and Bwin who currently market to Dutch gamblers.
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