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GAMING LAW REVIEW AND ECONOMICS Volume 14, Number 10, 2010 ©Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/glre.2010.141005 Dynamics of Arcades in the Netherlands: Developments in Legislation, Policy, and Practice Ad Schreijenberg and Bob van Waveren INCE 1986, THE DUTCH gambling policy, as laid investments in arcades; plans for new arcades have Sdown in the Dutch Gambling Act (WOK), en- sometimes been called off. ables the operation of gambling machines and ar- cades.1 The current gambling policy is based on the following keynotes: meeting the needs of the gen- LEGAL FRAMEWORK eral public, protection of vulnerable groups, prof- itable operation, and good enforcement opportuni- The Dutch Gambling Act, of 31 December 1964, ties. These keynotes are in line with the Dutch provides for a general ban on offering gambling polder model tradition: the interests of all parties games, unless a license has been granted. Skill ma- have been taken into consideration in the realization chines, which are gaming machines whose game re- of this policy. sults lead exclusively to extended game play or free Part of the policy—for example, the location of bonus games and whose playing success depends on arcades and the gambling addiction prevention pol- insight and skills, were permitted. Gambling ma- icy—is regulated locally instead of nationally. It is chines, described by the law as “gaming machines partly because of this that there is no clear overview which are not skill machines” were prohibited at the of the developments in the arcades industry at the time. In 1986, the WOK was amended to include a national level. Observing that arcades make up an separate provision for gaming machines, and pay- important part of the gambling industry—including out gambling machines were legalized under strict the corresponding addiction risks—the Netherlands conditions. In 2000, the most recent amendment of gaming control board ordered an investigative study the WOK concerning gaming machines was on the developments of the industry.2 This study adopted, which included the Gaming Machines De- shows that the arcade industry has further developed cision 2000 and the Gaming Machines Regulation itself in both a quantitative and a qualitative sense. 2000. The Gaming Machines Regulation 2000 stip- Due to scaling-up and upgrading, arcades more and ulates in particular the (technical) requirements with more resemble the casinos operated by the central regard to gaming machines. government. Over a decade, the number of opera- The explanation to the amendment of the law tors has halved, and different location choices are states that some keynotes carry more weight than being made. Compared to 2006, gross game pro- others. In particular, the protection of the player and ceeds have decreased. This results in a decrease in the prevention of—and fight against—problem 1 For readers unfamiliar with Dutch arcades, they are defined— and differentiated from casinos—in section 2, Concepts and Ad Schreijenberg and Bob van Waveren are researchers/advi- Context. sors at Regioplan Policy Research in Amsterdam (The Nether- 2 A. SCHREIJENBERG AND R.C. VAN WAVEREN, SPEELAUTO- lands). Translation was provided by Juliëtte van Dijk. The au- MATENHALLEN. EEN ONDERZOEK NAAR DE ONTWIKKELING VAN thors would like to thank Ger Homburg (Regioplan) and Peter SPEELAUTOMATENHALLEN IN NEDERLAND [ARCADES: STUDY ON Geertsen (Netherlands gaming control board) for their valuable THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCADES IN THE NETHERLANDS] (Regio- comments. plan: Amsterdam 2009). 749 750 VAN WAVEREN AND SCHREIJENBERG gambling and gambling addiction played an impor- palities also provide a municipal operator’s license. tant part in this amendment of the law.3 This is also Normally, this license includes data on the managers emphasized in the Policy Letter Gaming Machines (including Certificates of Good Conduct of the op- of the Dutch Ministry of Justice. In this document, erators), the opening hours, and the minimum age the main objective of the gaming policy is described of the visitors. as follows: “to regulate and control gambling games, with special attention for the prevention of gambling addiction, the protection of consumers and the fight CONCEPTS AND CONTEXT against illegality and crime.”4 The main conse- quences for arcades of the amendment of 2000 were Arcades an increase in the lower age limit for patrons from Arcades are public places equipped with gaming sixteen to eighteen years of age, the introduction of 6 5 machines. A municipality in which an arcade has the legal evidence of gambling problem expertise, been established should determine the operation of and the introduction of gaming machines which of- the arcade by order. In this local act, the munici- fer space to more than one player, the so-called mul- pality can stipulate the number and kinds of gam- tiplayer machines. ing machines. The municipality also issues opera- Since the amendment of the Gambling Act in 1986, tor’s licenses for arcades. the power to decide on the number of arcades and With regard to arcades, a minimum customer age their locations was decentralized to the Dutch munic- of 18 years applies. Since 2000, arcades are required ipalities. Dutch municipalities that do not want ar- to have an entry control system. However, age cades can prevent their establishment by refraining checks are not necessary in arcades which have only from implementing a local act concerning arcades. skill machines or in which the spaces with gambling Municipalities that want to allow arcades within their machines are strictly separated from those with skill boundaries can specify the precise number of arcades, machines. In the latter cases, an age check is re- the locations where they may be established, and the quired only at the part of the arcade in which gam- number of gaming machines per arcade. bling machines are situated. To operate an arcade in the Netherlands, two li- censes are required: one license issued by the cen- Gaming machines tral government and one municipal license. These licenses can be described as follows: As mentioned above, a distinction is made be- tween skill machines and gambling machines. A • An operator’s license. This license regulates skill machine is “a gaming machine whose game re- who is allowed to operate gaming machines. sults may exclusively lead to extended game play Applicants need to apply for the license at or free bonus games and whose process, even after Verispect, the supervising organization, and it it has been put into action, can be influenced by the is issued by the Dutch Ministry of Justice. Each player. In addition, it should entirely or almost en- year, Verispect visits all the operators and checks their licenses, their accounts, and their workplace or service contract. 3 Dutch Lower Chamber documents II, meeting year • A municipal existence license. This license reg- 1997–1998, no 3. Amendment of the Dutch Gambling Act ulates where gaming machines may be placed. (gaming machines). Applicants need to apply for the license with 4 Dutch Lower Chamber documents II, meeting year 2004–2005, 24557, no 54. Letter of the Dutch minister of Jus- the local authorities and it is issued by the tice concerning gambling games. mayor. The license includes a statement on the 5 The legal evidence of gambling problem expertise is a piece number of machines (and in some cases, the re- of evidence which can be obtained by following a training course at one of the addiction treatment providers in the Nether- lation or proportion between gambling ma- lands. chines and skill machines). The license also in- 6 According to Article 30 of the Dutch Gambling Act, a gam- cludes data on the location of the arcade, the ing machine is: “an appliance, equipped to play games, which license owner, and the managers. consists of a mechanical, electrical or electronic process that can be put into action by the player, and whose result may lead to the indirect or direct payment of prizes or bonuses, includ- In addition to the existence license, some munici- ing the right to free bonus games.” ARCADES IN THE NETHERLANDS 751 tirely depend on the player’s insight and skills re- them has increased, while the number of skill ma- garding the means offered whether and to what de- chines has decreased. gree the duration of the game is extended or the right In order to put the development of the arcades in- to free bonus games is granted.”7 A gambling ma- dustry in perspective, it is interesting to compare it chine is described as “a gaming machine which is with the development of Holland Casino in the same not a skill machine.”8 In the case of gambling ma- period. Contrary to the number of arcades, the num- chines, the outcome of the game depends on chance, ber of Holland Casino establishments has increased and the player hopes to receive more money than over the years. Moreover, the number of gaming ma- the amount put into the machine. chines in Holland Casino establishments increased by more than 3,000 between 2001 and 2008. In Casinos versus arcades 2001, the casinos were equipped with 4,331 gam- ing machines; in 2008, this number had increased Holland Casino, which is owned by the Dutch to 7,385. This increase, as both an absolute num- government, offers its visitors both classical casino ber (3,054) and as a percentage (seventy percent, games (poker, roulette, blackjack) and (increas- or 70%), is significantly larger than the increase in ingly) gaming machines. Because of this, the dif- the number of gaming machines in arcades. (How- ference between Holland Casino and privately ever, it must be noted that in the Holland Casino es- owned arcades seems small, in as much as the ar- tablishments, it is the number of player’s seats cades also offer a mix of casino games and gaming which is counted, and not the number of actual ma- machines.

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