Belgian Online Players Facing Legal Fines

8 years ago
Online gambling in Belgium
14:16
12 May

The Belgium Gaming Commission has fined 79 people for playing on BetClic.com, a site that doesn't have a license to operate in Belgium. BetClic players will face fines of €200 ($222) and the president of Commission Etienne Marique warned that more convictions are on the way and that more players will be fined.

It is well known that online gambling in Belgium is high regulated and controlled by the government as the authorities want to keep gambling under control. However, in the past years, only illegal operators offering services in Belgium have been target of government fines.

Due to new Belgium Gambling Commission regulations, players will now also be fined for wagering money on unregulated platform. Etienne Marique has explained that the Commission also plans to target major bettors who deposited thousands of Euros on BetClic.com, the site run by BetClic Everest. Those high-stakes gamblers could face fines up to €16,000 ($17, 850) next month.

Etienne said that fines also depend on profession of players, for example if police officers or judges wagered money on the BetClic, they will face higher penalties. RTL.be reported that judges and police officers in Belgium are not allowed to gamble, especially on unregulated gambling sites.

Belgium is well known for their strict gambling laws so the country doesn't allow foreign based internet gambling sites to operate in Belgium. Based on 2009 Gambling Act, those who want license for online gambling, must first obtain land-based license.

Belgium Gambling Commission has forbidden many unauthorized sites to operate in the country and many of the leading poker networks are on their list of prohibited gambling websites. List includes a number of well known names like Betfred, William Hill and many others.

BetClic Everest, which is also on the list of prohibited gambling websites, and Belgium have had problems since February 2014, when Belgium Gambling Commission seized €600,000 ($668,384) in BetClic players’ funds. The funds were sized because BGC ruled that the site was operating illegally within the country.

BetClic faced fine up to $1.2m so the site pulled out of the country in April 2014. Since then, Belgium based players have been blocked from BetClic Everest’s websites.

However Belgium’s aggressive move towards players on unregulated sites could easily encourage other European countries to do the same. Although it is described as an unusual move for the countries to target players on unregulated sites instead of operators, this is not the first time that players faced fines.

In September of 2014, online blackjack player was convicted by Criminal Court in Munich of illegal gambling activities and was fined $72,000 for gambling at a UK casino site.

Even though Belgian gambling is strictly controlled by the government, gambling in the country is very popular. Belgian gamblers are spending millions of Euros each month on online gambling but after BetClic players faced penalties, fear of consequences could lead to serious reduction in number of players playing on unregulated sites.

Photo: dailyfinance.com


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Ines is a Journalism student with many interests, poker being one of these. Her passion to learn and develop her horizons make her a valuable contributor to the site's content.Read more

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