Finland is a beautiful country known worldwide for its majestic nature and easygoing people. The people’s sporty nature made gambling a most welcome form of entertainment in the land.
Wagering in all forms is legal in Finland still that the state runs entities that monopolize all gambling activities in the country which means that before a certain gambling unit will be introduced to the public, it has to be checked thoroughly by their high authority and only if it has been approved by their jurisdictions can a new casino land-based or online be inaugurated.
The online casino or “nettikasino” as it’s called in Finnish introduces the latest and more innovative bonus options in the market. The casino sites in Finland constantly update for better graphics and audio and the majority of their sites give more rewards to their players.
Online wagering in Finland
The gambling industry is booming in Finland, ranking them in rank four in terms of gambling all over Europe. As stated the country has a state monopoly in the betting industry and everyone from the site operator to the game developers have to coordinate with the state straightaway.
The four gambling entities of the land
The country assigned four entities that control and regulate both land and online gambling activities. These are:
- Ray or Raha-automaattiyhdistys
Ray is the pioneer among entities and considers the most compelling because it has the highest form of authority compared to other commodities. It oversees land-based casinos, slot machines, and roulette. It is also the provider and authorized license for brick-and-mortar casinos all over the country including the provinces.
Ray has been around since the 1930s since slot machines started in the land followed by the succeeding forms of gambling. Although gambling was already thriving, the government was not too pleased about it because some private businesses purchased it thus charitable institutions started to give licenses to slot machines to operate.
- Veikkaus Oy
The majority of the land-based casinos in the land are run by Veikkaus Oy including the national lottery, instant games, and sports betting. All proceeds from these gambling activities will go to the development of the culture, arts, sports, and science.
- Fintoto Oy
This entity is responsible for the marketing of the horse race activities, the pari-mutuel horse racing, and organizing the race betting activities. All forms of schemes concerning horse races are under the direct supervision of Fintoto Oy. This includes scheduled races, meeting dates, and taking care of the horses’ rights.
Fintoto Oy also offers service to the wagers as well as questions and information about the race. The proceeds will go directly to the government and some of its profit goes to Suomen Hippos an organization that takes care of the horses that join the race the rest will be set aside for future developmental projects such as education, major improvements of the public infrastructure, and important public events.
- Alands Penningautomatförening or PAF
The PAF is responsible for all operations on the island of Alands both online casino games on the land and cruise ships near the North and Baltic seas. All websites that are operated by the PAF are accessible in the entire land of Finland.
Interesting information about wagering in Finland
Ø The EU and the government of Finland don’t see eye to eye concerning the issue of a monopoly on gambling. The European Union wanted the government to be a bit lenient to the foreign operators but the government of Finland already set its foot firm with this matter.
Ø Protection of the children and the people is what concerns the government the most which is why they are strictly about this matter. For this reason, the four entities existed to oversee all gambling matters and protect the people’s welfare.
Ø Finland prevents advertisements of any form may it be on the internet, television, or newspaper coming from abroad. Nevertheless, people are allowed to bet in any foreign online casinos since it is not in the law.
Ø Any gambling games in Finland are tax-free.
Final thoughts:
The type of system in Finland in terms of gambling is fastidious because their government scrutinizes every detail of it before it will be publicly known. For this reason, this is an assurance to the bettors that they are in good hands.
