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KSA issues warning to Betnation over self-exclusion failures
On June 15, the Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), issued a warning to Betnation’s parent company, Smart Gaming, over its breaches of self-exclusion laws.
The warning was issued after the operator was found to have violated mandatory checks of players’ self-exclusion status before allowing them to enter the platform and gamble. Between January and March 2026, Betnation skipped self-exclusion checks on the Cruks register and allowed a small group of players to gamble before discovering the problem and removing the self-excluded accounts. This means that the players were able to gamble on the platform before their accounts were flagged.
The KSA shared in a statement:
“The KSA finds it deeply unacceptable that the Cruks checks were not carried out. Players who register themselves in Cruks do so to protect themselves and must be able to rely on the fact that this also prevents them from gambling with licensed operators.”
However, the regulatory body chose to issue a warning and not impose a fine at this stage because the operator was the one to identify the issue, report it to the KSA, and fix it soon after discovery. Additionally, Betnation compensated the players and stressed that it would collaborate with responsible gambling services to offer further assistance to the affected individuals.
Despite the regulator’s relatively light enforcement action, it added that any future violations would lead to stricter punishments and fines.
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