In Belgium, young people are denied access to casinos, slot machine arcades and betting shops to protect them.
Casinos (online and offline) and slot machine arcades (online and offline) are only accessible from the age of 21. For betting (online and offline) the minimum age is 18.
Since 2004, the Gaming Commission (GC) has been managing the Excluded Persons Information System (EPIS), an electronic system that lists all excluded players. When entering a physical or virtual casino, a physical or virtual slot machine arcade, or a physical or virtual betting shop, the player's surname, first name and date of birth are compulsorily recorded in EPIS, in order to check whether the player can be allowed to play. This is clearly a highly effective tool in the fight against gambling addiction.
- Players can have themselves placed in EPIS if they wish to be protected from themselves;
- An interested third party (e.g. partner) can submit a request for exclusion;
- An exclusion can be imposed on the basis of a court decision (e.g. persons for whom the request for collective debt settlement was declared admissible);
- Due to the nature of their profession, people can automatically be refused entry to a casino or slot machine arcade, for example magistrates, notaries, court bailiffs and police officers.
- A provisional administrator can submit an application by ordinary letter to maintain a preventive ban on gambling for a person to be protected, if they deem it necessary (cf. Article 54 §3.3 of the Gambling Act).
You can find all the info on this on the website of the gaming commission via the following link: https://www.gamingcommission.be/en/protection-of-players/access-ban