If Blue High House does not comply with the order, KSA will impose weekly fines of €43,000 on the operator, with a maximum limit of €129,000.
Blue High House does not possess a license to offer gambling services in the Netherlands. The operator was given a two-week deadline from the date of the decision, which was September 29th, to adhere to the order issued by KSA. Therefore, the final deadline was October 13th.
Engaging in gambling activities without a license is considered a violation of the 2019 Betting and Gaming Act, which established the regulated online gambling market in the Netherlands in October 2021.
KSA initiated an investigation of Blue High House in December 2021. During the investigation, it was found feasible for investigators to create a player account, make deposits, and place bets on the platform. Blue High House failed to take any technical measures to prevent this from happening.
As part of the registration process, the operator required users to provide personal information. In the online form, the Netherlands was automatically selected, and the Dutch +31 country code was filled in the phone number section.
In August 2023, investigators once again logged into the site and discovered that it was still possible to place bets with a Dutch IP address. KSA also used web traffic data to support its case, revealing that the site received 136,569 visits from May 2022 to May 2023.
Due to these findings, the regulator issued an order for Blue High House to cease offering unlicensed gambling services to Dutch consumers.
Blue High House chose not to respond to KSA’s judgement.
The ruling came shortly after KSA imposed a fine of €2.1 million on LCS Limited, the operator of Sonofslots.com, for providing unlicensed gambling services. LCS has decided to dispute the decision and has accused KSA of carelessly compiling its report on the operator’s activities. In an official statement, LCS criticized the excessively punitive fine and vowed to aggressively appeal. The operator also clarified that recent media reports stating its reentry into the Netherlands were inaccurate.
