Netherlands Tightens Online Gambling Rules with Near-Total Ad Ban and Stricter Safeguards
The Dutch government is introducing sweeping new gambling rules, including a near-total ad ban, bonus restrictions, and a raised minimum age for online play.
A Sweeping Policy Shift in the Netherlands
The Dutch government has announced some of the most far-reaching changes to its online gambling framework since the market was liberalised in 2021. State Secretary Claudia van Bruggen has confirmed that the new measures will include a near-total ban on gambling advertising, an end to bonus offers, and a raised minimum age for high-risk online gambling.
The announcement follows years of incremental tightening that began with the Orka Decree in July 2023, which banned untargeted advertising across radio, television, newspapers, and public spaces. Subsequent rules prohibited gambling companies from sponsoring television programmes and events from January 2024, and sports sponsorship was fully wound down by July 2025.
Despite those earlier restrictions, operators were found to be exploiting loopholes through targeted online advertising and social media campaigns. The government has now decided that partial measures are no longer sufficient, and the new framework is expected to take effect from 2026.
What the New Rules Actually Cover
Under the proposed framework, all advertising for online gambling will in principle be prohibited, with only very limited exceptions permitted. Gambling platforms will also be barred from offering bonuses of any kind, including free bets for new users and loyalty rewards for returning customers.
The minimum age for high-risk online gambling will rise from 18 to 21. This is one of the more significant age-related restrictions seen in any European regulated market and reflects growing concern about gambling harm among younger adults.
A central monitoring system will also be introduced to track betting limits across all licensed platforms simultaneously. The aim is to prevent players from circumventing individual platform limits by spreading large bets across multiple operators at once. The Dutch Gambling Authority, the KSA, will receive expanded powers to take illegal foreign gambling sites offline more quickly.
Public support for the measures appears strong. Figures from the Consumers' Association suggest that around 84 percent of consumers back a full advertising ban, and several parliamentary parties are pushing for even tougher rules, particularly targeting so-called dark patterns in game and platform design.
Industry Under Pressure Before the New Rules Even Arrive
The policy announcement comes at a difficult moment for licensed operators in the Netherlands. The KSA recently fined operator 711 a total of 886,000 euros for duty of care failings, having reviewed ten player files and found violations in every single one. The fine is the latest in a series of penalties related to operator obligations toward customers.
Channelisation rates, meaning the share of gambling activity taking place with licensed operators rather than offshore alternatives, have fallen sharply. Analysts suggest growth in the online market has slowed rapidly in recent months, and there is little expectation that channelisation will recover above 50 percent under current conditions.
Tax increases have compounded the pressure. The gross gambling revenue tax rate has risen to 37.8 percent, and early indications suggest that higher taxes have not increased government income as expected. Players appear to be either reducing their gambling or moving to offshore platforms that offer better odds, which is precisely the outcome the industry had warned about.
Portugal Moves on Illegal Gambling This Summer
The Netherlands is not the only European market undergoing significant regulatory change in mid-2026. Portugal's Economy Minister Manuel Castro Almeida has announced that the government will introduce legislation this summer to update the country's online gambling rules and strengthen action against unlicensed operators.
Speaking at the launch of a public awareness campaign titled 'Not everything you see is safe gambling', the minister described illegal gambling as a plague and said the proposals would focus on oversight, sanctions, active prevention, and public awareness. He also invited industry stakeholders to contribute suggestions to the process.
Portugal has already made several responsible gambling improvements ahead of the summer bill. The SRIJ, the country's gaming regulator, launched a centralised self-exclusion system in April 2026, replacing a site-by-site process so that a player who self-excludes is automatically blocked from every licensed platform at once. Registrations on the system rose from around 309,100 at the end of the first quarter of 2025 to approximately 326,400 by the end of the second quarter, representing roughly 27 percent growth year on year.
The summer legislation will be the government's primary vehicle for wholesale reform after parliament rejected an earlier opposition proposal to amend the existing online gambling regime. A parliamentary resolution did, however, direct the government to protect consumers, combat illegal gambling, and modernise the regulatory framework.
Finland Adds Detailed Restrictions Ahead of 2027 Market Opening
Finland is taking a different path, preparing to open its online gambling market to private operators for the first time while simultaneously publishing detailed draft regulations to govern how that market will function. The Ministry of the Interior released four new draft regulations this week under the recently enacted Gambling Act, with the rules set to come into force on 1 July 2027.
The draft rules include mandatory return-to-player rates, maximum stake caps, and loss limits differentiated by game type and player age. For online slots, players under 25 will face a maximum stake of 10 euros per spin, while older players will be capped at 20 euros. Each spin must be manually initiated, autoplay is prohibited, and spins must last a minimum of 2.5 seconds.
Aggregate loss limits are also proposed, and the framework includes strict caps on gambling venue infrastructure to limit physical accessibility. Only one land-based casino will be permitted, located in Helsinki, with public access allowed daily from midday to 4am.
A Broader European Pattern of Regulatory Tightening
Taken together, the developments in the Netherlands, Portugal, and Finland reflect a broader European trend toward tighter oversight of online gambling markets. Regulators across the continent are grappling with similar challenges: rising rates of problem gambling, the persistence of illegal offshore operators, and the difficulty of enforcing rules that were designed before social media and targeted digital advertising became dominant channels.
The Dutch situation is perhaps the most acute, given that the market was only liberalised five years ago and is already facing calls for restrictions that would make it one of the most tightly regulated in Europe. The tension between protecting consumers and maintaining a viable licensed market that can compete with illegal alternatives is a challenge that policymakers have not yet fully resolved.
Portugal's approach, combining a new legislative push with a coordinated public awareness campaign and a centralised self-exclusion system, offers one model for how governments might try to address both sides of that challenge at once. Whether the summer bill will be sufficient to meaningfully reduce illegal gambling activity remains to be seen, but the direction of travel across European markets is clearly toward greater restriction and more active enforcement.
For operators active in these markets, the coming months will require careful attention to compliance obligations that are shifting quickly. The combination of new advertising restrictions, bonus bans, age limit changes, and expanded regulator powers represents a significant operational challenge, particularly for companies that have built customer acquisition strategies around the tools that are now being curtailed.
Daniel Kovacs is a seasoned online casino reviewer known for his analytical approach and no-nonsense writing style. With a background in digital marketing and a long-standing interest in probability and game mechanics, he built his reputation by breaking down complex casino systems into clear, practical insights for everyday players. He started his career freelancing for niche gambling blogs before launching his own review platform, where he focuses on transparency—testing bonuses, verifying payout speeds, and digging into terms that most players overlook. Daniel is particularly respected for his deep dives into slot RTPs, customer support responsiveness, and real user experiences.
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