Casinos in Netherlands

Introduction

The Netherlands is unique in a lot of ways. One of those ways is the way the gambling industry is set up there. Holland Casino holds a state-run monopoly on all full-scale casinos. This means they are the only entity that can legally offer traditional casino games like roulette, blackjack, and poker. Holland Casino has 14 gaming venues spread across the country. There are also approximately 150 other gambling arcades known as "speelhallen" or gaming halls. The arcades are more or less slot halls but also have other electronic games.

While some Hollanders enjoy going to the big casinos with floor games and the game halls, it is also a somewhat segregated market with many players preferring one over the other. Even among those, some may play quite a bit at a speelhall and only travel the distance to one of the Holland Casino properties once or a few times per year.

The smaller-scale private enterprise gaming venues mix well across the country with the state monopoly casinos giving the people plenty of variety and spice to fit almost any mood. The arcades lack live dealers and the same table gaming experiences the Holland Casinos offer, but they all offer regulated, safe, and fair gambling.

History of Gambling

Gambling in the Netherlands goes back a long way and has seen plenty of changes and developments over the years. Most ways to gamble were illegal in Holland until the middle of the 1900s. The state eventually recognized the possibilities of generating revenue by regulating and taxing organized gambling and created Holland Casino in the 1970s. The first Holland Casino was opened in Zandvoort in 1976 and closed in February 2025. The Dutch had legal casino gambling at last with 13 more locations.

As the more “trad casinos” grew in popularity, so did the gaming halls with their slot machines and other automated gambling games. Rather than being a bee in the bonnet of the government monopoly, they augmented the national gaming experience by giving players more options without infringing on Holland Casino’s monopoly on traditional floor games like blackjack. Some might say it fed players’ overall desire to gamble and spawned a new pool of players year after year. It appears to be more of a case of a truly symbiotic relationship than the gaming arcades “cannibalizing” footfall at the “real” casinos.

The games and halls were not necessarily legal or illegal when they began to appear but they spread so widely and so deeply that they had to eventually be regulated and became a part of the mix that we see today.

Legislation and Jurisdiction

The strict gambling regulations we see in Holland today were crafted to limit gambling’s impact on Dutch society, as all jurisdictions claim and make efforts towards. However, this is a country where, on the surface, it might seem like the government monopoly, the allowance of arcades, and the liberalization of online gambling all have one primary goal in mind, and that is to fatten the state coffers while keeping the cow alive long enough to milk another gallon, and another, and another. A deeper look shows that's not necessarily the case at all.

Let’s explore that…

These casinos and all other legal gambling venues in the country are regulated by the Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit or KSA). Along with the 14 Holland casino properties, there are about 150 gaming halls, and of course, the government collects taxes from legal online gambling venues. We won’t go into that aspect here too much but we’ll note that the government collected a large portion of more than one billion dollars (US$) from online action in 2023.

Gambling revenues mainly go to the general budget, and just like in many other countries they simply comingle and get lost in the mix. It’s not easy to find the exact numbers but gambling revenues are a small but not insignificant part of the general budget. In this case, looking at how the government spends that general fund might be informative. In the Netherlands, the monies are put into funding public services like healthcare and education. Some are also spent on social causes like gambling addiction prevention and treatment. The  KSA has a say in making sure revenues support public welfare and address gambling-specific issues. About 40-45% of the general budget goes to healthcare and social security and education gets about 10%.

To wrap up the legal end of things…

The government in The Hague passed the Remote Gambling Act in 2021. It allows online gambling operators to offer legal online gaming as long as they adhere to strict conditions.

Popular Spots and Games

Holland Casino spread across major Dutch cities from Amsterdam to Zandvoort and everywhere in between.

The biggest casino in the Netherlands is in Amsterdam which simply makes sense based on population densities. We won’t break that element down in a comparative analysis of other cities but “disposable income” or general wealth seems to have as much to do with venue placement as raw population numbers. Some of the most frequented casinos are to be found in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and the Hague. The balance seems to work very well and would appear to meet the needs of the recreationists as well as the greater good.

You can visit our reviews to get all the basic information. Holland Casino Amsterdam is open every day from 1:30 pm until 3 am, but it’s closed on May 4 and December 31. They have a good variety with 576 slot machines and 55 table games. If you need details or want to book something special, it’s handy to give them a call so we give you their number. We give you their exact location and a photo of the property and mention little things like the fact they have an airport shuttle if you are visiting from out of town.

There are other valuable resources to explore as well. The World Casino Directory lists nearly 100 cities with casinos or gambling halls in the Netherlands. The site carries machine counts and poker room information too, and while it might be hit and miss for in-depth, in-person reviews, between the two sites you will be well-informed about any continent, country, or city’s casino offerings.

Speaking of poker…

One of the hottest games at many Holland Casinos is poker. Look for regular tournaments that draw in the best of the best in local talent and also attract international players looking to claim some fame. Roulette and blackjack are popular games too, and Holland Casino puts up a more formal, upscale atmosphere for seriously fun gambling than the game halls for the most part. Slots can be found at Holland Casino and the speelhallen and draw large crowds at peak times.

If you are in the area and aren’t familiar with the ebb and flow of gambling in the Netherlands and prefer a quieter setting, you can still go to one of the bigger venues at low footfall times for a larger but more intimate venue. For instance, you can type “Google Casino Amsterdam”  into Google and find a live feed of visitor volumes. As this is typed it is 9 PM and “as busy as it gets” until after 11 PM. Noon and 2 AM are the least busy times.

No matter what area of the country you visit, you will find an enthusiastic cohort of gamblers and high-quality gaming venues.

Conclusion

When it comes to casinos and gambling arcades, the Netherlands seems to have a little bit of something for everyone. The industry is tightly regulated and appears to have reached a sort of equilibrium not only with providing gambling entertainment across the country but also in using the proceeds for the greater good.

The state-run monopoly’s high-end gaming tables serving up timeless classics like roulette, blackjack, and poker in a controlled environment complement more than 100 gaming parlors across the land. Both types of gaming experiences are well-regulated by the Dutch government and provide a variety of options for Hollanders to enjoy.