Dutch Regulator Fines Instantcasino Operator a Record €37 Million Over Unlicensed Sites

Author:

29.10.2026

The Dutch regulator fined Instantcasino's operator €37.25 million over 12 unlicensed sites, its largest fine for illegal gambling so far.

Bar chart showing a €292.6 million calculated fine cut to a final €37.25 million fine from the Dutch gambling regulator.

Key facts

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has fined EOD Code SRL, the company behind Instantcasino, €37.25 million.
The fine covers 12 casino and betting sites that were open to Dutch players without a Dutch licence.
The KSA calls it its highest fine for illegal gambling so far. The previous record, almost €25 million, went to Novatech in March 2026.
Under the KSA's fining rules the fine came to €292.6 million, but Dutch law caps it at 10% of the company's worldwide turnover.
EOD Code can object within six weeks, but an objection does not suspend the decision.

A record fine from the Dutch regulator

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, or KSA) has fined EOD Code SRL €37.25 million for offering online casino games and sports betting to Dutch players without a licence. The regulator announced the fine on 22 October 2026.

The KSA calls it the highest fine it has imposed for illegal gambling so far. The previous record of almost €25 million went to Novatech, the company behind Qbet and 55Bet, in March 2026, as NOS reported at the time.

The decision is dated 6 October 2026 and was sent to the company the next day. It covers 12 casino and betting sites that inspectors found open to players in the Netherlands.

Site	When the KSA found it open to Dutch players
instantcasino.com	Checks from 19 November 2024 to 19 September 2025, and on 24 July 2026 at instantcasino17.com
skyhills.com	24 November 2025
slotmonster.com, betiro.com, betblast.com, fastslots.com, goldenpanda.com, sambaslots.com, winningz.com	21 May 2026
incognitocasino.com, foxygold.com, luckypays.io	10 June 2026

How the KSA built its case

KSA inspectors opened accounts with Dutch details, deposited money and placed bets. On Instantcasino one inspector deposited €20 in Bitcoin from the Netherlands, and nothing on the sites blocked Dutch players.

The decision lists the signs that the sites aimed at the Dutch market. "The Netherlands" was filled in automatically at sign-up, the +31 dialling code was offered, and the payment pages were wholly or partly in Dutch.

Several sites took iDEAL or offered payment through ING, Rabobank and ABN AMRO. Dutch influencers linked to Skyhills on Instagram, YouTube and Discord, and Dutch-language TikTok videos used its logo.

Instantcasino's site said EOD Code was registered and regulated in Costa Rica. Its terms named Costa Rican law and gave the courts of Curaçao sole say over claims against the company.

The KSA found that it had granted no Dutch licence for any of the sites.

Earlier orders went unanswered

The fine follows an order subject to penalty that the KSA sent on 29 July 2025, telling EOD Code to stop offering unlicensed gambling in the Netherlands. The deadline to comply ran out on 26 August 2025.

Checks on 5, 12 and 19 September 2025 found Instantcasino still open to Dutch players. That cost the company the maximum €840,000 in penalties, three of €280,000 each.

EOD Code did not pay, and on 11 December 2025 the KSA decided to collect the money.

The company also did not answer a KSA request for revenue figures on 26 May 2026. It did not respond either when the regulator invited its view on 10 September 2026.

How €292.6 million became €37.25 million

With no figures from the company, the KSA estimated its revenue with its search-volume method, which starts from how often people search for the sites. It put the 12 sites' 2025 gross gaming revenue from Dutch players at €108,374,000.

Under the KSA's fining rules, the base fine for estimated revenue of €800,000 or more is 100% of that revenue. Eight aggravating factors added 170 percentage points.

Aggravating factor	Points added
No visible age check before sign-up was complete	50
Terms that harm players (see the next section)	50
Bets that are banned in the Netherlands	20
Inactivity fees	10
Autoplay or turbo play	10
No play limits, or limits filled in in advance	10
Minimum deposit amounts	10
Deposits in cryptocurrency	10

That came to 270% of the estimated Dutch revenue, or €292.6 million. Dutch law caps the fine at 10% of the company's worldwide turnover in the year before the decision.

The KSA estimated worldwide revenue at €372,989,000, which set the ceiling at €37,298,900. It rounded the fine down to €37,250,000.

Terms the KSA called unfair to players

The 50 points for special circumstances came from Instantcasino's terms and conditions. The KSA judged each of these clauses an unacceptable disadvantage for players:

A fee could be charged on withdrawing money that had not been wagered at least once.
Withdrawals were capped at €4,000 a day, €10,000 a week and €20,000 a month.
Player balances were held apart from company money but could still fall into the company's estate in a bankruptcy.
The operator accepted no liability for unfair game results caused by technical faults.
A player who asked for permanent self-exclusion could have their balance kept.

Separately, accounts left unused were charged €5 a month from the 13th month. The KSA treated that as a penalty for not playing.

Players anywhere can look for the same clauses in a casino's rules before depositing: withdrawal caps, fees on unwagered deposits, inactivity charges and what happens to a balance after self-exclusion.

What happens next

EOD Code can object within six weeks of the decision being sent, but an objection does not suspend it. The fine is also due within six weeks.

Besides fines, the KSA says it acts against illegal sites together with payment providers, hosting firms, banks and large tech companies.

The fine came a week before the KSA's market report of 29 October, which estimates that about 94% of people who gamble online in the Netherlands do so only at licensed sites.

Measured by gross gaming revenue, the licensed share of online gambling was 59% in the first half of 2026, up from 54% in the second half of 2025. The KSA reads the gap as a sign that people who gamble illegally lose considerably more on average.

Revenue at licensed online casinos fell 18.2% in 2025. The KSA puts that down in part to player-protection rules introduced at the end of 2024, such as the net deposit limit.

For the wider rule changes, see our June report on the Dutch advertising ban and new safeguards.

Frequently Asked Questions

Twelve sites run by EOD Code SRL: instantcasino.com (also reached at instantcasino17.com), skyhills.com, slotmonster.com, betiro.com, betblast.com, fastslots.com, goldenpanda.com, sambaslots.com, winningz.com, incognitocasino.com, foxygold.com and luckypays.io.

Dutch law caps a fine for unlicensed gambling at 10% of the company's worldwide turnover in the year before the decision.

The KSA estimated that turnover at €372,989,000, so the fine could not exceed €37,298,900. It set the fine at €37,250,000.

Yes. It can lodge an objection within six weeks of the decision being sent on 7 October 2026. An objection does not suspend the decision, and the fine is due within six weeks.

The fine is aimed at the operator for offering gambling in the Netherlands without a Dutch licence. The decision takes no action against players.

It does list terms at these sites that the KSA found unfair, such as withdrawal caps and a right to keep a self-excluded player's balance.

Author

Paolo Pellegrini

|iGaming News Editor

Paolo Pellegrini is Casino Adventurer's news editor, based in Rome, where he was born and raised. He covers the stories shaping the online gambling industry, from new regulations and tax changes to market openings and major deals, and always explains what they mean for players. He's naturally curious and starts every morning with the news and a strong espresso. Outside work, he's a lifelong AS Roma fan and loves cooking for friends on Sundays.