Bwin Faces Lawsuit from Dutch Player for €200,000 in Lost Bets Over 11 Years

A Dutch gambler has sued Bwin, a bookmaker, asking for more than €200,000 from the gambling company, de Volkskrant reported.

The gambler said he lost that much money over 11 years (from 2008 to 2019). He said Bwin had no right to offer its services to Dutch users because it didn’t have a betting license in the Netherlands. By the way, online gambling was illegal in the Netherlands until 2021.

The gambler also said that Bwin ignored his signs of gambling addiction and did nothing to help him.

On top of that, he said that Bwin kept sending him promo ads, urging him to bet more and more.

Bwin’s defense counters that the player could have used the self-exclusion option on the website, which would have blocked him from gambling. However, he never used this option, despite his addiction.

The outcome of this legal battle is uncertain, but there are some precedents that favor the player. For example, last summer, a German court ordered Bwin to pay back €87,000 to a player who had a similar case. However, it is not clear if the Dutch court will follow the same logic.

It’s worth noting that in 2022 Entain (Bwin’s owner) tried to launch the brand in the regulated Dutch market. However, the local gambling regulator said no.