Dutch Licence Limits Hedge In De Lotto
The four opening games of this summer's European football championship provided some all too tempting betting options for Dutch football fans.
With Germany poised to beat Poland, Croatia set to dismantle Austria and the Czech Republic and Portugal both favoured, Dutch punters piled onto accumulator bets that combined three or four of the winning teams.
Despite the best efforts of Toto’s odds-setting team, potential liabilities on their Toto Select combination product ballooned to a point where the operator opted to shut out additional bets during the day on Saturday.
Toto, a part of the De Lotto group, is the only company licensed to offer betting in the Netherlands, but under the terms of its license, issued under the 1964 Gaming Act, it is not allowed to engage in hedging or to alter its odds once they are set.
“This is our vulnerability,” De Lotto director Tjeerd Veenstra, told GamblingCompliance, “bookmaking is explicitly not allowed - we don’t hedge, we take our own risk, but on this occasion we saw heavy betting from professional punters on these games.”
“We try to limit our exposure by placing a limit of €22 on each single bet, but people can still place additional bets in our shops,” Veenstra added.
While noting that the monopoly has, in the past, only occasionally halted bets as their liabilities grew, Veenstra stressed that Toto honoured all of the winning bets that were accepted this weekend, before they called time on the combinations.
However the De Lotto director noted, “we have to keep a certain balance on what we offer, and if there is a higher liability for the company then we have to take steps to block additional bets.”
But with Dutch football fans looking to bet on the outcomes, with or without Toto’s help, Veenstra admits that many will have been driven to bet with foreign online operators that offer their services in Holland.
“We need a discussion with the Dutch Government about his because if you look around the internet right now its clear that we can’t compete with the illegal operators,” said Veenstra.
“We try to be effective as much as possible, but we do not have the ability to insure ourselves against large payouts through other means.”
With Germany poised to beat Poland, Croatia set to dismantle Austria and the Czech Republic and Portugal both favoured, Dutch punters piled onto accumulator bets that combined three or four of the winning teams.
Despite the best efforts of Toto’s odds-setting team, potential liabilities on their Toto Select combination product ballooned to a point where the operator opted to shut out additional bets during the day on Saturday.
Toto, a part of the De Lotto group, is the only company licensed to offer betting in the Netherlands, but under the terms of its license, issued under the 1964 Gaming Act, it is not allowed to engage in hedging or to alter its odds once they are set.
“This is our vulnerability,” De Lotto director Tjeerd Veenstra, told GamblingCompliance, “bookmaking is explicitly not allowed - we don’t hedge, we take our own risk, but on this occasion we saw heavy betting from professional punters on these games.”
“We try to limit our exposure by placing a limit of €22 on each single bet, but people can still place additional bets in our shops,” Veenstra added.
While noting that the monopoly has, in the past, only occasionally halted bets as their liabilities grew, Veenstra stressed that Toto honoured all of the winning bets that were accepted this weekend, before they called time on the combinations.
However the De Lotto director noted, “we have to keep a certain balance on what we offer, and if there is a higher liability for the company then we have to take steps to block additional bets.”
But with Dutch football fans looking to bet on the outcomes, with or without Toto’s help, Veenstra admits that many will have been driven to bet with foreign online operators that offer their services in Holland.
“We need a discussion with the Dutch Government about his because if you look around the internet right now its clear that we can’t compete with the illegal operators,” said Veenstra.
“We try to be effective as much as possible, but we do not have the ability to insure ourselves against large payouts through other means.”
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