Following the recent announcement that only 10 casino and online gambling operators have received licenses from regulator de Kansspelautoriteit, PokerStars has made the decision to leave the Dutch online gambling market immediately.
While unlicensed operators have until November 1st to leave the local market, PokerStars has moved swiftly to cease its operation in the Netherlands. This is likely due to the fact that there is now a mandatory six-month cooling off period before the operator can apply for a license and the sooner the online poker provider leaves the market, the sooner it can return.
Player funds are still accessible with all chests converted to cash which players can withdraw at any time.
The decision to withdraw from the market will have a significant impact on streamer and PokerStars ambassador Lex Veldhuis who, according to a Tweet, is weighing up his options for the next six months. With the majority of Veldhuis’ audience based in the Netherlands, the Twitch streamer has grown in popularity in recent years and is considered to be the top poker streamer in the Netherlands.
In compliance with Dutch laws that came out this week, Pokerstars decided to pull out of the Dutch market today.
This obviously has a huge impact on my situation. Please bear with me as I look into options and find a solution so I can get back to streaming/playing 🙏
— Lex Veldhuis (@LexVeldhuis) September 30, 2021
As PokerStars has yet to make a comment on the decision, there’s no indication as to whether the move is permanent or if the brand will apply for a license once the cooling off period has expired. Poker affiliates will be sad to see their revenues for the market zeroed, for now.
London based reporter covering all aspects of the global regulated and unregulated land-based and online gambling industry - including business news, sports-betting, casinos, poker & regulation