Dutch licensees instructed to hold off as self-exclusion glitch delays market launch

The first 10 Dutch-licensed operators have been forced to delay their online launch due to a technical fault in the country’s self-exclusion platform (Cruks).

Gambling firms included bet365 and Holland Casino were originally given the green light to launch online gambling in the Netherlands on 1 October by the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA).

However, the KSA has now instructed the 10 operators not to allow players to gamble on their websites until the issue with Cruks has been fixed.

The regulator said it had already identified the cause of the malfunction and was “working hard” on a fix before promising a further update at 8pm CET this evening. Cruks was supposed to go live at 5pm.

Cruks, which stands for Central Register of Exclusion of Gaming, is a self-exclusion platform for consumers that wish to take a break from their gambling.

Registered users are unable to gamble for at least six months on Dutch-licensed gambling websites and are also barred from accessing arcades and casinos across the Netherlands.

Players can register for Cruks by themselves, or they can be referred to the platform by an operator or following the request of a close friend.

The launch of the licensed market in the Netherlands has been plagued by delays and technical errors.

In April for example, the licence application portal for prospective operators also suffered a technical fault on its first day in operation.