Over a third of new gambling accounts opened by under 24s, new Dutch regulator says

The KSA found that 11 per cent of accounts opened by 18-year-18-year-olds were registered on their birthday, and 38 per cent within a month.

The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published new findings on the gambling behaviour of minors and young adults obtained through three studies. The regulator says the results of the studies provide it with new tools to better protect this group.

The regulator investigated, among other things, the gambling behaviour of young adults (18-24 years old) in the first three months after registering with a legal online gambling provider, gambling behaviour among MBO (senior secondary vocational) students, and how minors come into contact with gambling. The KSA said that the studies highlighted the normalisation of gambling in Dutch society, and that children come into contact with it in various ways at a young age. 

This normalisation may contribute to young people finding it easier to take the step towards online gambling from the age of eighteen, it said. Research into the gambling behaviour of young adults shows that many accounts belonging to 18-year-18-year-olds are created on or shortly after their birthday. 

In the 18-24 age group, 41 per cent of new accounts belong to an 18-year-old. However, on average, they wager the least money. Previous reports by the KSA indicated that sports betting is often a stepping stone to participating in other gambling products. We do not see this reflected in this study: here, we see that most young adults start with casino games.

Based on new account registrations from May 1 to 7, the control database included 15,761 newly funded gambling accounts. Under-24s made up a third of the new accounts, and 41 per cent of these were opened by 18-year-olds on or shortly after their 18th birthday. In 2024-25, some 11 per cent of accounts opened by 18-year-18-year-olds were registered on their birthday, and 38 per cent within a month.

How young people start gambling

A second study, conducted by Youngworks on behalf of the KSA, provides insights into the path young people take before they start gambling. This qualitative research shows, among other things, that many children come into contact with gambling before the age of eighteen. This usually involves legal gambling products that reach them indirectly, such as through parents buying a scratch card for them, or older friends or family members sharing their online account.

At that time, gambling is often a group activity that is considered harmless by the young people. The social aspect, such as playing poker with friends or placing sports bets together, plays a major role in this. The research shows that many young people view ‘gambling alone’ and gambling with an illegal provider as an important signal of potential problem behaviour.

A third study into gambling behaviour among MBO students also clearly shows that the proportion of minors who gamble is high. Although 68 per cent of MBO students indicate that they do not gamble at all, 28 per cent of minor students state that they gambled in the past year. The most common forms are scratch cards, bingo, and slot machines. This primarily concerns physical offerings.

The KSA said it would now work to determine “what additional measures are needed to better protect young people”.

Also this week, the KSA announced the publication of a free open-source algorithm for estimating risky online casino behaviour among players. The tool was developed by researchers from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) and uses machine learning to calculate risk based on actual gaming behaviour. The tool has been made open source to provide other regulators with an independent, transparent instrument to detect risky gambling behaviour early and better assess whether online gambling companies are fulfilling their duties of care.