KSA: 41% of new young adult gambling accounts opened at age 18

A large share of new online gambling accounts opened by young adults in the Netherlands are being created right as people hit the legal age. The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) found that among new online gambling accounts held by 18–24-year-olds, 41% were opened by 18-year-olds, with a noticeable spike right around birthdays.

The KSA analysed 15,761 newly opened online gambling accounts that showed betting activity in May 2025, then tracked those players’ behaviour for their first three months. Of the full sample, 5,244 accounts belonged to consumers aged 18 to 24. Within that 18–24 group, 2,144 accounts were held by 18-year-olds. The timing was tight: 11% of those accounts were opened on the customer’s 18th birthday, and 38% were opened within one month of turning 18.

Early activity levels were also higher for the youngest legal players. Over their first three months, 18-year-olds gambled an average of 12 days per month, compared with 10 days per month for the 19–24 group.

The account tracking also looked at a KSA theory from earlier research: that young adults typically move from online sports betting into casino games. In this dataset, there wasn’t a simple “sports to casino” pipeline. When accounts started out casino-only, 97% stayed with casino games the next month. When accounts started out sports-betting-only, 80% stayed with sports betting. For customers who used both casino games and sports betting in their first month, behaviour was more fluid: 57% moved to a different product in the following month, and 73% of those switchers ended up as casino-only.

Two additional KSA-linked studies widened the focus beyond newly opened accounts. A survey of 29,724 students aged 15 and over found underage gambling remains a continuing concern: 28% of 15–17-year-olds said they had gambled in the previous 12 months, despite gambling being prohibited for under-18s. Among young adults aged 18 and over, 39% said they had gambled in the past year, though the KSA cautioned these findings were not representative of all minors, young adults, or vocational students.

The same student survey flagged how often higher-risk products show up when young people do gamble. Of underage students who gambled, 51% participated in at least one of three categories identified as carrying the highest risk of gambling harm: casino games, sports betting, or gaming machines; among young adults who gambled, this rose to 65%. Underage gamblers most often chose scratchcards (46%) and bingo (34%), with gaming machines at 28%. Among young adults, casino games were the most popular (46%), followed by scratchcards (35%) and sports betting (32%). The online vs land-based split was stark: 78% of underage students who gambled exclusively online took part in at least one of the highest-risk categories, versus 34% of those who gambled only in physical locations.

A final study by YoungWorks explored how under-18s first encounter gambling and how behaviour can develop over time. It found early exposure often comes through social and family settings, such as scratchcards, games, or betting with friends. Some participants said it was easy to get around 18+ restrictions by using accounts belonging to older friends, siblings, or parents, and some reported parents paying stakes or lending their own accounts. The KSA said it will keep working on what additional measures are needed to better protect young people, and that this work is already underway with the government as part of a wider initiative.