As restrictions continue to tighten in the region, online poker site GGPoker has taken steps to halt marketing in the Netherlands.
According to casinonieuws.nl, the decision means that the group has concluded its collaboration with Dutch marketing company Well Played Marketing.
Well Played Marketing took to Linkedin to confirm the announcement, citing a changing Dutch climate and challenges around tax increases as the reason for the split as GG takes a centralised approach.
The group stated: “After three years and one month, the partnership between GGPoker and Well Played Marketing will come to an end on July 1. Prompted by, among other things, changing laws and regulations, including the upcoming increase in the gaming tax, GG has decided to go for a central approach. This means that Well Played Marketing and GGPoker are going to part ways.
The firm also praised GG for ‘three great years of cooperation’, describing GG as a firm that has ‘quickly become the market leader in online poker’.
Reflecting on the collaboration, the group stated: “We jointly set up campaigns to introduce the brand in the Netherlands and sponsored eight BVOs. We got local ambassadors, who unfortunately we soon had to say goodbye to.
“A collaboration with the WSOP Venlo and Rotterdam ensured that live poker in the Netherlands finally became a bit more accessible. GGPoker supported Amateur Poker in the Netherlands with the sponsorship of O.N.K. Poker.
“We brought poker back to TV by sponsoring the broadcasts of the WSOP and Poker After Dark and we were part of new world records in terms of fields and prize pools in online poker with the GGMasters Overlay edition and the World Series of Poker Online.
“The above would not have been possible without the help of a tremendously strong and dedicated team. That is why I would like to thank these champions in particular. Each and every one of them are great poker enthusiasts with the necessary technical knowledge, a unique combination that few people have. The office of Well Played Marketing breathed poker. I’m proud to have been able to work with such a great team to make GGPoker big in the Netherlands.”
Dutch authorities also recently took steps to ensure that operators reimbursed players that had played when the market was a grey one, prior to its full legalisation in 2021.
These steps were mainly aimed at bwin and Pokerstars, whose agreements with players were deemed null and void.
