Dutch Gambling Licenses Renewed as KSA Shuts Down Clone Sites

By John Isaac,
Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac Editor at online-gambling.com

John Isaac is an editor with many years of experience in the gambling industry. He writes expert articles on card games like blackjack and poker. In addition, he is also well aware of the US gambling laws and the Indian and Dutch gambling markets. You can rely on verified information and insightful details.

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Last updated: October 7, 2026

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA) announced on October 7, 2026, that it had 26 fake gambling websites taken offline. Almost all of them copied the sites of licensed Dutch operators, using a .co.nl address instead of .nl.

The action comes one week into the regulated online market’s second licensing period. On October 1, 2026, eight operators started new five-year licenses that run until September 30, 2031.

Eight Operators Start New Five-Year Licenses

The KSA licensed its first ten operators under the Remote Gambling Act (Wet Koa) in 2021, the year online gambling in the Netherlands became legal. Those licenses expired on September 30, 2026, so operators still active needed a follow-up license.

The KSA granted the first eight follow-up licenses on September 17, 2026, after a review that was stricter than in 2021. The new license holders, with the brands they cover, are:

• TOTO Online B.V. (TOTO and Winnitt)
• Holland Casino N.V. (Holland Casino Online)
• Play North Limited (Kansino)
• FPO Nederland B.V. (FairPlay Casino)
• Bingoal Nederland B.V. (Bingoal)
• Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc (bet365)
• NSUS Malta Limited (GGPoker)
• Betent B.V. (Betcity)

All eight were among the ten companies licensed for the market’s launch on October 1, 2021. The other two original license holders, Tombola International Malta and LiveScore Malta, left the Dutch market in 2024 and no longer hold a license.

Stricter Checks for Licensed Operators

The renewal round added a new test. The KSA reviewed violations that had been definitively established over the past five years, and each applicant had to explain how it fixed them and how it will prevent repeats.

After that review, the regulator gave some operators extra points to work on, but did not say which ones. All eight met the requirements for a license, according to the KSA’s September 17 announcement.

The KSA also found that not all licensed operators were following the rules on closing accounts. On September 23, 2026, it published guidance explaining them. Its starting point is that closing an account must be as easy as possible.

Operators may not force players to contact customer service first, or use that contact to talk them into staying. Any remaining balance must be paid out without unnecessary delay, and operators cannot attach conditions to the payout.

Closing an account only stops play with one operator. Players who want a wider break can register in Cruks, the national self-exclusion register, which blocks them from every Dutch-licensed gambling site, arcade and casino for at least six months.

How the Fake .co.nl Sites Worked

The KSA says it is coming across fraudulent clones of legal gambling sites more and more often. Visitors who landed on one of the .co.nl copies were redirected to an illegal gambling website.

The .co.nl extension is meant for Dutch business websites and is run by an independent company, CO.NL. After the KSA reported the 26 sites, CO.NL had all of them offline within 48 hours.

The investigation also turned up other illegal gambling sites on the same extension. In total, the KSA has reported 86 websites to CO.NL so far, and all of them have been removed.

The takedown is part of a wider push against the illegal market. Writing after the annual parliamentary committee debate on gambling in September, KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen described the scale of the problem:

“Illegal gambling is an unprecedentedly large and complex problem. Of every euro that the Dutch gamble, half goes to the illegal market.”

Michel Groothuizen, Chairman, Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA), blog of September 11, 2026 (translated from Dutch)

Players can check any brand or web address in the KSA’s public register, the Kansspelwijzer. Searching a site there before signing up shows whether it is one of the licensed Dutch online casinos.

Licenses granted after October 2021 run for five years too, so more holders will need follow-up licenses. In September, lawmakers asked for a tool to block illegal gambling sites, a power Groothuizen says the KSA has long needed.