Gambling addiction help in the Netherlands

Verified helplines

Helplines and online chat

0800 24 000 22 reaches OpenOverGokken, the service formerly called Loket Kansspel. It is free, anonymous and staffed around the clock, and it is the number the Dutch government itself points to: help is available 24 hours a day by phone or digitally. WhatsApp runs from 08:00 to 24:00, and there is chat on the website - the practical route if you are trying not to wake the household.

Family members and friends can use the same channels; you do not have to be the person gambling to call.

Self-exclusion

Cruks - the Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen - is the Dutch national exclusion register, run by the Kansspelautoriteit. Register at cruksregister.nl by logging in with DigiD, or by post using the form on the site. Once you are in it, you cannot gamble at gambling sites, arcades (speelhallen) or casinos holding a Dutch licence.

Two rules decide how it behaves:

• The minimum is six months, and you cannot deregister during those six months. This is the part that does the work - the register is designed so that a relapse cannot be turned into a deposit the same night.
• You choose the length yourself, so if six months is not enough, set a longer period at registration rather than planning to renew.

Someone else can also start the process. A family member, friend or employer can ask the Ksa to enter a person in Cruks: in the authority's own words, they will in any case not be able to gamble for six months at gambling sites, arcades and casinos with a Dutch licence. It is an assessed request to the regulator, not an automatic switch.

Cruks reaches licensed operators. Sites without a Dutch licence do not check it, which is why a device-level block belongs next to it - see apps that block gambling sites and our comparison of self-exclusion schemes by country.

Blocking gambling payments and sites

Since 1 October 2024 Dutch rules cap deposits by default rather than leaving them open. Adults get a monthly deposit limit of at most €350, and young adults up to 24 at most €150. Going above that is not a slider: a personal contact with the operator is required first, during which staff trained in addiction prevention must point out the risks and the help available.

Above that sits an affordability check. If you deposit more than €700 net in a month - or more than €300 if you are a young adult up to 24 - the operator has to investigate whether your finances can carry it. Limits must also be set in a neutral environment, with no pre-filled options and no advertising on the screen, and operators must tell players that a gokstop through Cruks exists.

Before playing anywhere, check the licence in the Ksa's Kansspelwijzer. If money is the pressing problem rather than access, our guides on gambling debt and setting gambling limits cover the order to do things in.

Free treatment and counselling

Calling OpenOverGokken costs nothing, and it can refer you on to services near you. For treatment itself, the Dutch basic insurance package (basispakket) covers mental health care: basis-ggz for mild to moderate conditions, specialistische ggz for severe and complex ones, and the first three years of residential treatment. There is no statutory co-payment for it.

What you do pay is the compulsory deductible, which stays at €385 in 2026 and applies to mental health care. GP care is the usual entry point and, unlike most other care, visits to the huisarts do not draw on the deductible - so the first conversation costs you nothing either way.

Support for family and friends

Relatives have two concrete options here. The first is OpenOverGokken, which is open to family and friends 24/7. The second is a Cruks request for someone else: if other help has not worked, the Ksa can be asked to enter that person in the register, after which they cannot gamble for at least six months at licensed sites, arcades and casinos.

Before using the second, read how to help someone with a gambling problem - a registration made over someone's head changes what happens next in the relationship, and it works better as part of a conversation than as a surprise.

Gambling law and the regulator

The regulator is the Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa). The minimum age is 18, and licensed operators must verify it against an objective identity document - a player's own statement that they are old enough is not sufficient. Ksa research found that gambling by minors at licensed providers happens mainly through the accounts of adult family members and friends, which is the practical reason to keep your own account and cards off shared devices.

To check whether an app, website or casino has a licence, use the Ksa's Kansspelwijzer. The helplines directory lists lines outside the Netherlands, and the self-test is a starting point if you are not sure whether this applies to you.