Finland Online Gambling

Since 1996, when Veikkaus Oy was given permission to offer its gambling services over the internet, the online gambling market in Finland has continued to evolve and it is regulated by domestic licensing authorities. Veikkaus Oy monitors and regulates the Finnish National Lottery and their services became the world’s first ever ‘online’ national lottery. At the time of writing, it is near impossible for a foreign operator to prosper in the Finnish market though.

For a long time, a site called Play Among Friends (PAF) which launched in 2007, was the main gambling portal where Finnish players could spend their hard-earned cash. This leading gambling portal is licensed in an area known as the Åland Islands (Alands Penningautomatforening). This jurisdiction is an autonomous Swedish-speaking region in Finland.

PAF is an impressive gambling portal which offers multiple gambling products such as online sports betting, online poker and online bingo and more recently, online casino games were added to this list of products. The two other major authorities in Finland include Fintoto Oy, which is associated with horse racing and also RAY, which is the Finnish Slot Machine Association (owned by the state).

While PAF remained the dominant force for several years in Finland this only irritated both RAY and Veikkaus Oy. In 2010, the Finnish government eventually caved in to pressure from the state controlled RAY and they gave permission to RAY to start offering online casino services and online poker services. Veikkaus Oy was also eventually allowed to start offering online bingo services and other online numbers game services.

Despite international pressure to open up their market to foreign operators, the Finnish Government remains stubborn and does not want its residents to spend money at any gambling portals which operate from offshore locations. However, there is currently no Finnish law prohibiting players from gambling at these sites. In 2010, the Finnish government passed new legislation which basically prohibits foreign operators from advertising any real cash gambling services to residents in Finland. It also prohibits them from using Finnish publications or Finnish broadcast outlets to advertise their products.

The government eve went as far as to prevent foreign gambling operators from using .fi domains. If any such operator is caught doing so and is successfully prosecuted, that gambling operator and any media companies involved could face up to a maximum 2 year jail sentence and can also be fined.

In 2015, there are many online casinos which operate from offshore locations and these sites DO accept real cash wagers from Finnish players. These gaming sites can even be displayed in Suomi and they all accept Euros. Some of the best Finnish online casinos available today are powered by the likes of Microgaming, Playtech and Net Entertainment. You can find a list of these Finnish online casinos by heading over to our online casino review section.

Finland Gambling Resources:

Info Pankki - For those who have a gambling problem and are looking for assistance with their addition, this website provides information about help services that can assist.

Pelaa Nettikasino - Finnish website in the Finnish language that provides players from Finland interested in playing at online casinos with reviews of trusted and reputable online gambling websites and other useful information.

Kasino Mobiili - Players from Finland who are looking to play at online casinos using their mobile devices including iPhone, iPad and Android powered devices should visit this website for recommendations on where to play.

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