The entire campaign is planned to have wide coverage. Bonnetje, a legal services application founded by rapper Boef, has made the following promise to its users; Bonnetje will make all the arrangements to collect their gambling history as well as calculate their losses. The face of the campaign has been chosen from among people who have already played this role, and Bonnetje has selected ex-Ajax and Inter player Andy van der Meijde for the task.
A Celebrity Hook, but Not a New Dispute
What Bonnetje is actually doing is joining a crowd that had already begun forming. Gokverliesterug started a second mass-claim campaign in 2024 for losses prior to the opening of the regulated market. Dynamiet states that it currently acts on behalf of over 5,000 claimants in disputes involving six operators, with total claims of up to €100 million.
Bonnetje’s unique selling point is not innovation within the law. It is marketing, in that it repackages an elite litigation specialty for mass-market consumption.
The Core Legal Question Is Still Unsettled
The legal context is what sets this case apart from other claim promotions. On 1 April 2021, the Remote Gambling Act was introduced in the Netherlands, and the licensed online gambling industry became operational on 1 October 2021. Prior to this date, no company could acquire a licence for Dutch online gambling, although many Dutch people gambled at offshore sites.
Several lower courts have ruled for players, including an April 2024 Overijssel judgment and a 2025 Rotterdam ruling against Betsson. But the case law has not been uniform, and the Supreme Court has not yet issued its final view.
However, the Dutch Supreme Court has not decided this issue. In the advisory opinion delivered in November 2025, Advocate General Siewert Lindenbergh argued that gambling agreements concluded without a license do not automatically become invalid, and thus repayment claims could not be upheld. He also highlighted that there were other possible actions to consider besides this one, including those for mistake and tort. The only position adopted by the Supreme Court is that the decision date is still uncertain.
Why the Market Still Cares
The Dutch government continues its battle against the illicit market in the present tense. The 2026 Kansspelautoriteit Supervision Agenda highlights the need for increased attention to be paid to illicit offers, adding that the agency intends to collaborate with financial institutions, hosting service providers, and social media channels in disrupting their infrastructure.
However, the official figures released by the KSA paint a mixed picture. In early 2025, 91% of players visited only legal websites in Q1 2025, while channelisation by BSR averaged 51% in the first four months of 2025. The illegal market’s gross gaming result was estimated at €1.2 billion.
Bonnetje is not introducing a new legal theory. What it does is turn an existing stream of refund litigation into a broader consumer-facing campaign at a time when the legal foundation for such claims is still under review.
