Bill would create two more licenses
Legislation is pending in the Netherlands to privatize state-owned gaming operator Holland Casino. The legislation would divest Holland Casino of four of 14 casino licenses to an unidentified operator and also make two additional licenses available.
The proposed legislation requires that the buyer of Holland Casino and its 10 casinos would not be permitted to acquire any of the remaining six licenses for now, according to the website Yogonet.com.
“By and large, the adoption of this bill is a significant victory for the liberalization of gambling in the Netherlands,” wrote Gaming in Holland principal Willem Van Oort in a post published by CalvinAyre.com. “However, the bill must still pass the Senate, which will almost certainly not happen before the lower house elections of March. It is thus not entirely unthinkable, depending on the next government, that further consideration of the bill will be delayed or even indefinitely postponed.”
Holland Casino is the only land-based body that is legally permitted to offer games such as roulette, baccarat and blackjack in the Netherlands, Van Oort wrote. He estimated it could sell for up to US$1.07 billion.
