Fec decides to exclude family arcades from games of opportunity

The Netherlands gambling regulatory body, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has demanded that all games of chance be excluded from family arcade halls so that no minors can get in contact with them, and has negotiated with the regional organization Family Entertainment Centers (FEC Nederland).

An initial study undertaken by the KSA in 2017 and a follow-up one recently found that these amusement centers which are designed to offer games and fun for children and parents alike also feature games of chance, the so-called fairground machines. A fairground machine is basically a chance lottery game that does not offer cash winnings but in other types of rewards such as coupons and physical objects, with a prize value of up to 40 times the stake number.

Fairground Machines: Games of Chance

The KSA has been in discussions with industry regarding these machines which operate under the 1964 Games of Chance Act without a special permit or inspection. The Dutch regulator argued that the legislation envisaged selling devices at traveling fairs and amusement parks, since lawmakers did not recognize the possibility of creating a gambling problem when the amount of time people spent at such locations is comparatively small.

Another problem for the regulator was that the number of such family arcades has increasingly risen, and with it the number of games with chance machines, making interaction with a gaming machine with a casino character simpler for minors.

In a letter to the KSA, FEC Nederlands explained that it would pursue the requisite measures to ban some kind of games of chance from all family arcades. The industry body, which accounts for 70% of all family arcades in the Netherlands, further noted that, considering the fact that minors were already barred from playing games of chance machines, the existence of such machines in the amusement centers made it difficult to control the practice in the world.

FEC Needs Casino Machines Out of the Country

The association is also proposing action that will inevitably lead to the removal of these games from the family amusement centres. FEC clarified that its participants are subject to an annual audit that will also review their compliance with the mandate to exclude some form of chance games from their establishments.

Non-members and manufacturers of such devices were told and advised to go along with the association's intentions, as it is expected to see all fairground machines with a casino character vanish from the world within 10 years at the latest.

FEC Nederlands goes still further in its letter to the KSA, urging the regulator to introduce a regulatory reform such that all forms of fairground machines with a gaming feature are no longer tolerated, a request which the KSA completely endorses.