June 16, 2026
The Dutch government has unveiled a five-year plan to cut gambling-related harm — and its headline measure is a near-complete ban on online gambling advertising. Here's what the new "multi-year agenda" proposes, from deposit limits and a tougher line on the black market to the age-21 idea that was quietly dropped.
The Netherlands is preparing one of Europe's toughest crackdowns on gambling. On Friday, the Dutch government unveiled a five-year strategy to reduce gambling-related harm — headlined by a near-total ban on online gambling advertising.
The plan arrived alongside a letter from State Secretary for Justice and Security Claudia van Bruggen, setting out how the government intends to tighten consumer protection across the online sector. The direction was signalled back in February, when the three-party coalition floated a full advertising ban in its coalition agreement — and pointedly compared gambling to sex work.
A near-complete online advertising ban, a central deposit limit with an affordability test, possible curbs on high-risk games and features, and a harder line on the illegal market — all wrapped into a 16-page "multi-year agenda" published via the Dutch parliament.
— Claudia van Bruggen, State Secretary for Justice and Security
One of the agenda's core priorities is a possible ban or restriction on high-risk games and the features that encourage excessive play. The letter also confirms the government is weighing a cut to the number of online licences on offer, framed as "extra protection" for players.
The reforms reach land-based gambling too
The crackdown won't stop at online play. Van Bruggen warned that the new rules would also apply to land-based gambling, after recent research flagged a number of in-person offerings as "high-risk." The reforms lean heavily on the regulator's evidence base: the KSA's April 2026 report found that deposit limits introduced in October 2024 had already reduced problematic gambling behaviour.
— Claudia van Bruggen
Fighting the black market — but no age-21 limit for slots
To take on illegal operators, the government wants to hand the KSA sharper enforcement tools, including the power to coordinate with banks, digital platforms, suppliers and international partners to dismantle the infrastructure behind unlicensed sites.
Young people — minors and young adults in particular — are again singled out as the most exposed, both to gambling harm and to the black market. The government had previously floated raising the minimum age for "high-risk" products such as online slots to 21, but the regulator pushed back, warning it would simply drive young players toward illegal sites. That idea has now been scrapped.
— Claudia van Bruggen
In its place, the agenda promises stricter age-verification protocols, targeted prevention programmes, and media-literacy initiatives designed to expose the algorithmic and marketing tactics that nudge players toward risky behaviour.
What the advertising ban looks like
The centrepiece is a proposed near-complete advertising ban on online gambling, with only narrow exceptions to keep legal operators visible to players. The letter also signals scrutiny of how artificial intelligence is used inside online gambling products.
Alongside it, the government proposes a central deposit limit for online gambling, backed by an affordability test for stakes above that threshold — with lower limits for younger adults to cap their financial exposure. It's an approach that echoes Finland, where state-owned operator Veikkaus recently rolled out deposit limits for players under 25.
Care, funding and measuring the harm
The strategy also leans into treatment and support: reducing the stigma around gambling, making help easier to find, and joining up local responses across addiction, debt, mental health and social care. Suicide prevention is named as a key clinical priority.
- Duty of care: new rules will spell out when licensees must step in, with an external expert group advising on tightening operators' obligations.
- Self-exclusion: upgrades to the national Cruk register are planned, potentially extending it to cover illegal gambling sites.
- Measuring harm: there is currently no standard tool to quantify gambling harm, so better data-sharing, research and professional training are on the roadmap.
A study cited in the agenda found that in 2025, 69% of Dutch residents aged 16 and over took part in at least one form of gambling. Strikingly, half of 16–17-year-olds — below the legal gambling age of 18 — also reported having gambled.
Delivery of the agenda will be led by the Ministry of Justice and Security (JenV), working with the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and the KSA. The many initiatives will be paid for through the Addiction Prevention Fund, managed by the KSA, which will direct resources to the roadmap's priorities.
If the agenda becomes law, the Netherlands will move from one of Europe's more open online markets toward one of its most tightly controlled — with advertising all but switched off, deposits capped, and the regulator armed to chase the black market. The big open question is the one every restrictive regime faces: how to protect players without pushing them toward the unlicensed sites that offer no protection at all.
