The number of gambling addicts who are no longer allowed to enter a casino or gambling office has doubled | Domestic

Anyone who feels that he or she needs to be protected against the dangers of a gambling addiction can independently request an access ban from the Gaming Commission (KSC). You will then no longer have access to online and offline casinos, but also to all slot machine arcades and gambling offices – online and offline.

In other words: the access ban is based on the initiative of the person in question. What is less known is that an access ban can also be requested by a loved one from your own environment (for example a parent or a spouse). These numbers are a lot lower, but they still increased from 69 to 107 in the same period.

Because it concerns ‘self-exclusion’, the numbers are an underestimate of the actual number of people struggling with a gambling addiction in our country. Our government is in the dark about the total number of gambling addicts: there are no figures available. But one thing is certain: between 2020 and 2023, the figures show a rapidly increasing trend in the number of vulnerable people who spontaneously request protection.

Minister Van Tigchelt points out that since the end of 2021, anyone can request an access ban via the government application ‘itsme’. The registration threshold was lowered, which may help explain why more addicts are taking the step.

“These are figures that should make everyone think,” says parliamentary group leader Barbara Pas (Vlaams Belang). She points to a survey by the Gaming Commission last summer: “It showed that approximately one in four young adults was encouraged to gamble by advertising. More than half would have taken a gamble in the past three years. And 13 percent even gamble every day. So this is a widespread and serious problem.”