State-owned Holland Casino, which has a monopoly on the Dutch casino market, wants to invest ‘hundreds of millions of euros’ over the coming 10 years, says company director Dick Flink in an interview with Monday’s Financieele Dagblad. According to the paper, 2008 was a difficult year for Holland Casino. Flink said the ban on smoking alone cost the firm EUR 35m in lost income…

Dutch Minister of Justice, Ernst Hirsch Ballin, is trying to implement a group of measures that would ban transactions related to online gaming venues, with the aim to bring Holland Casino the exclusiveness of the gaming licenses in the country. Ballin intends to put in a black list some websites, selected by the Dutch government. Netherlands Bankers Association (NVB) has stated that it is against what it considers protectionist measures.

All fourteen Holland Casinos opened as smoke-free zones, following the introduction of a national smoking ban on the hotel and leisure industry. Research suggests that smokers are likely to spend twice as much on gambling per person compared to non-smokers. The correlation between smoking and gambling has long been evident. Several countries including the United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden, Australia and the United States have already imposed similar smoking bans…

The 17th edition of Master Classics of Poker, one of the biggest and best-known international poker tournaments, will be held between November 7-15. Ticket sales for this huge tournament start today. The best poker players from all over the world will be pitted against each other. Last year the total prize pot added up to more than 3.68 million Euros. Tickets may be bought either online or at any Holland Casino cash desk (except for Schiphol).

Holland Casino logged a total of 7.5 million visits in 2007. That is 7.6 percent more than in 2006 and it makes Holland Casino an extremely popular entertainment venue. The growing number of visitors, however, did not make for higher operating results. Net operating income was 85.6 million Euro, 4.1 percent lower than in 2006. Spending per visit decreased compared to 2006, from 104 Euro to 101 Euro in 2007. Holland Casino’s net operating income has been decreasing since 2003.

On 2 December 2005 the District Court of Breda rendered judgment in the case between Compagnie Financière Régionale B.V. („CFR“) (backed by French casino giant Tranchant) and the Ministers of Justice and Economic Affairs.

Mit einer Rekordbeteiligung von 198 Teilnehmern beim Lido Turnier und einem zu verteilenden Gesamtpreisgeld von 630.000 Euro wurden die kühnsten Erwartungen von Spielern und Turnierleitung weit übertroffen. Das Konzept, eine Mischung aus hervorragenden Turnieren mit einem zusätzlichem Preisgeld für die Plätze 19 – 30 (erhielten ihr Buy-In zurück), professionellen Management und einer spielerfreundlichen Atmosphäre ging voll auf. Da verwunderte es nicht, dass alle weiteren Turniere komplett ausverkauft waren.