The Rotterdam District Court has ordered Betsson to reimburse a customer over €500,000 after ruling that the player lost money gambling on websites operating without a Dutch licence.
The individual, referred to as “Eric” in court documents, brought legal action against BML Group Limited and Corona Limited – companies that ran the unlicensed sites.
The dispute stems from activity dating back to 2014, when the player began gambling on platforms such as Betsson, Kroon Casino, and Oranje Casino. Although online gambling was illegal in the Netherlands at the time, Eric claimed he was still able to access and deposit money with these sites. In total, he deposited €385,378.
The court case, held last week, ended in a default judgment in Eric’s favor, as Betsson did not appear in court. The judge declared the gambling contracts void, citing the illegality of the operators’ presence in the Dutch market, and ordered Betsson to return the full amount of the deposits.
Additionally, Betsson is required to pay interest dating back to the initial deposit in 2014, calculated at €144,622. Including legal costs of €5,751, the total amount owed to the player is nearly €530,000.
This marks the second unfavorable ruling for Betsson in the Netherlands this year. In a separate case, a court in Noord-Nederland found the company offered online gambling services without a licence and ordered it to repay €119,634 plus interest.
Despite having previously applied for a Dutch licence, Betsson withdrew its application in July 2023 due to long delays. Nonetheless, it may soon re-enter the market through its planned acquisition of Goldrun, a licensed Dutch operator, pending approval from the Kansspelautoriteit.
