Dutch Regulator Publishes Guideline On Games Of Chance

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Apr 6, 2018

Weighting system determines which games are considered chance and which are skill

The Dutch gambling authority Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published a 23-page guideline on what games it determines as games of chance and which, therefore, require a license to be offered to the Dutch consumer under the existing Betting and Gaming Act.

As new forms of play are developing at a rapid pace, and the lines between games of skill and games of chance become increasingly blurred, the KSA has set out definitions of both.

Determining the chance versus skill debate, the KSA’s guideline has defined games into two categories: games played against the provider – which it says simply qualify as games of chance; and the more complicated category where games are played against other participants. This category will be considered on a number of criteria including opportunity and the balance of influence of both probability and skill.

In poker, based on the basic rules of a game, different variants may be weighted in varying degrees for example a participants influence is higher in no-limit poker than it is in limit poker.

As the expected value of free-to-play or promotional games is positive for participants, these will be permissible on condition that the code of conduct is met.

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