Between 5 and 10 August 2026 the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) granted new five-year licences to five online operators — Holland Casino Online, TOTO Online B.V., Kansino, Fair Play Online and Bingoal Nederland B.V. All the new licences take effect on 1 October 2026 and run until 1 October 2031. This is the first wave of re-licensing in the regulated Dutch online market, which opened on 1 October 2021. The decisions were reported by the KSA itself, Gambling Insider and iGaming Business.
The Dutch online casino market operates under the Wet kansspelen op afstand (Koa), which took effect on 1 October 2021. The first batch of licences was granted for five years and all of them expire at the end of September 2026. Dutch law does not allow a simple extension — an operator has to file a fresh application and demonstrate compliance again with technical standards, KYC, the Cruks register, duty of care (zorgplicht) and responsible gambling. Outside the first wave a second cluster of operators — BetCity, GGPoker, bet365, ZEbet and Jacks.nl — has licences expiring by end of 2026 and is still awaiting a KSA decision.
We think the main takeaway for a Dutch player is confirmed regulatory stability through 2031. Holland Casino Online, TOTO Online, Kansino, Fair Play Online and Bingoal stay on the KSA-licensed list, which means the Cruks self-exclusion register, mandatory KYC at signup and the duty-of-care mechanism keep running without a break. Under Koa-2, since 1 October 2024 a €700 monthly net-deposit threshold applies to standard players and €300 for players aged 18–24; crossing it triggers a structured dialogue and income check — the mechanism KSA formalised in its structured means-test in 2026.
In our view the second significant point is the raised assessment bar. Fair Play Online's Responsible Gambling Manager Peter Vreuls publicly acknowledged that the process was intensive and pulled in the strategy, technology, legal and compliance teams — not a cosmetic review. That directly continues the supervisory hardening we analysed in the context of the €21,500 Cruks fine against Jack's Casino Zoetermeer, Sweden's Spelpaus real-time API upgrade and Germany's LUGAS technical reform. EU regulators are raising the bar in parallel and are not handing out new licences by default.
We flag two practical consequences. First, players of these five operators do not have to do anything active: accounts, transaction history, deposit limits and Cruks self-exclusion status carry over into the new licence period automatically. Second, players of the second-cluster operators — BetCity, GGPoker, bet365, ZEbet, Jacks.nl — should confirm by 1 October 2026 that their operator has announced its own renewal. If an operator misses the 1 October deadline, it loses the right to onboard new Dutch players, and withdrawals for existing customers move through the orderly wind-down plan that the KSA typically requires in such cases.
In our view this decision sits inside the wider EU regulatory landscape we described around the AMLA gambling consultation: the Dutch regime is neither an outlier nor a frontrunner but a working benchmark. Illegal-offer fines in 2026 (€24.8 million against Novatech, €3 million against Chestoption) alongside channelisation below 50% by GGR create a twin pressure on KSA — to sharpen enforcement and to keep licensed operators in the game. Five newly licensed brands preserve roughly 40% of channelisation and set the pattern for the next round of decisions.
Who does the 2026 KSA licence renewal actually affect?
The renewal directly affects active players of Holland Casino Online, TOTO Online, Kansino, Fair Play Online and Bingoal in the Netherlands with a valid registration and taxes settled. For them the licence transition on 1 October 2026 does not require re-verification of the account or a fresh KYC. Indirectly the decision signals to the market that KSA is willing to grant new licences to first-wave KOA pioneers if they pass the full assessment — that reads across to every remaining applicant.
What changes for existing players of Holland Casino Online, TOTO, Kansino, Fair Play and Bingoal?
Nothing immediately visible: accounts, game history, deposit limits, Cruks self-exclusion status, transactions and bonuses carry into the new licence period automatically. The operators keep running under the same Koa-2 rules, with the €700 monthly deposit threshold (€300 for players aged 18–24), mandatory zorgplicht interventions and the non-targeted advertising ban. The only potential change is licence conditions that the KSA could have tightened in the new permit, but none of the five operators has announced a material change on that side.
Can players trust an operator whose licence renewal is still in progress?
Yes — up to the expiry of the current licence, i.e. 30 September 2026, the operator holds a full KSA licence and every Koa safeguard is active. BetCity, GGPoker, bet365, ZEbet and Jacks.nl are legal in the Netherlands precisely because of that in-force licence. The risk is not today but whether the operator will receive a new licence by 1 October 2026. We recommend that players of these operators track official communications and avoid parking any amount on the account they are not ready to withdraw at short notice.
What if your operator does not secure the new licence by October?
The KSA has a standard orderly wind-down plan: the operator no longer onboards new players, stops taking deposits and pays out remaining customer balances on an agreed schedule. You are entitled to a full withdrawal (deposits plus winnings) and the KSA supervises the payout. If a payout is delayed, the complaint goes straight to KSA via its website. Never migrate to unlicensed look-alike sites — an official KSA communication always reaches you through the regulator or the operator itself, not through a third-party email.
As of 12 August 2026, there are three concrete steps for any Dutch player. First, if you play at Holland Casino Online, TOTO, Kansino, Fair Play Online or Bingoal, no action is required; the account keeps running without a break. Second, if you play at BetCity, GGPoker, bet365, ZEbet or Jacks.nl, subscribe to the operator's official licence-status communications and do not keep on balance more than you are ready to withdraw within 3–5 working days. Third, regardless of the operator, use KYC at registration and your own deposit-limit and budgeting tools, which run in parallel with Koa and Cruks.
We expect the next wave of KSA decisions to land in September 2026 — the regulator has to close every re-licensing application by 1 October. The overall regime stays strict: real-time zorgplicht monitoring, the €700 monthly threshold, Cruks and the non-targeted advertising ban. Casino play and any form of gambling is for adults only (18+) and is not a way to earn a living; if you feel at risk of addiction, use Cruks (NL), OASIS (DE), RUA (IT), the ANJ register (FR), Spelpaus (SE), GAMSTOP (UK), SPA self-exclusion (Brazil), the PlayCity register (Ukraine) or Ukraine's 0800 500 4321 support line.