Norwegian Casino Sites and Gambling in Nordic Countries Online

Having discussed free slot games, we now move into the realm of playing for real money. In this article, we discuss online gambling within the Nordic countries and how gambling and laws compare to that of the Norwegian casino market. Plus, where to find the best casinos in Norway.

The Gambling Landscape within Nordic Countries

There are 6 main territories within the Nordic region if we are to omit the two islands. For each country, we will share with you the gambling laws they are bound too and how they all compare to gambling inside any of the Norwegian casino sites that you’ll be able to access here.

We will begin with a brief rundown of the laws in each territory and then discuss the situation in Norway. From this, you will be able to see just how approaches are taken to either accommodate to players needs or how they are stifled.

The Key territories in Nordic Gambling

Denmark: Danish players are supported by the Danish Act on Gambling. Interestingly, the Act was updated in April 2020, adding the necessity of clarity to advertisement campaigns. The Act all together is a very liberal one to its citizens. Prior to the Gambling Act, the laws were fairly stringent, in 2012, the laws shifted from a somewhat monopolised operation to one that became more fair with gaming options kept to a certain level, limiting exploitation of vulnerable players, reducing online crime and imposing more fair operations upon the casinos. Everything is run and regulated through the Danish Gambling Authority.

Finland: For Finnish players, gambling is legalised, but the terms do come with some complexities. In Finland, the state runs this as a monopoly. The state owns three large gambling markets called as Fintoto Oy, Oy Veikkaus AB, and RAY. With such markets, gammbling is a recognized pastime for the country and openly liberal about doing so.

RAY conducts the business of table games and slot machines. Oy Veikkaus controls the aspects of the national lottery and sports betting. Lastly, Fintoto Oy deals with horse racing that is solely within the Finnish territory. When it comes to online laws, there is no law that prohibits the use of foreign websites, but because of the monopoly, no other business within Finland can make their own online casino, thusly, why many do search for better options on the Web.

Iceland: For Icelanders, gambling is considered to be illegal with the exception of it being associated with non-profit charity. What is permitted is limited, with lottery, bingo, sports betting and slots being the only forms of gambling that are allowed to be utilized. Other forms are completely banned and a reason to why there are zero landbased casinos in Iceland. The loophole comes in online casinos. The laws do no block any offshore sites that are licensed meaning the market is entirely open to players wishing to join other licensed online casinos within other countries.

Sweden: For Swedish players, they are faced with the industry of monopoly as the country holds two main powerhouses, one the Svenska Penninglotteriet and the Tipstjanst which in 1997 merged to form the AB Svenska Spel. They control gambling within Sweden with the addition of Sweden’s national horse racing, aka Trav och Galopp.

The reality of the dominance which AB Svenska Spel had over the market didn’t sit well with members of the EU, as it didn’t allow for outside business within other EU nations to be able to take part in. This led to online gambling seeing a resurgence after 2012 when the act of playing inside of overseas casinos were deemed legal.

Greenland: In harmony with the Danish approach, Greenlanders are able to embrace the liberal freedom of gambling in both domains of gambling. Forming part of the Danish Gambling Act, gambling in Greenland is fully legal and regulated under the Danish codes of conduct. The irony behind all of this is that regular landbased casinos are prohibited inside of Iceland.

Gambling in Norway

What is evident in the Nordic models is a lot of state-owned monopolies that exclude businesses within their own region to tap into the market. A cynic would easily draw the conclusion that well, the government is solely formulating these businesses because they take all the profit and the taxes, making it a win-win situation. Unfortunately, there is no silver lining to it other than curbing the appeal of gambling should you think it was something that should be stopped. When looking at the Norwegian model for gambling the process is very much the same as its neighbouring countries.

Norwegian Casinos

In Norway, there are two major businesses that control the gambling market. You have lottery gaming including Keno which is run by the Norsk Tipping sector and then there is sports betting and horse racing controlled by the Norsk Rikstoto sector. These are state-owned, no surprises there. Now, the tricky thing for Norwegian players is that online gambling is on paper illegal, so these two sectors are, on paper, your only way of gambling.

Norway is not part of the EU and as such, they are now infamous for having the strictest gambling laws in Europe. However, nothing is that simple in Norway, despite their bullish behaviour. See, Norway is not that well equipped to control things, and this leads to loopholes. The laws state foreign casinos are illegal, yet by their own admission they do not have the resources to actually do anything about it and yet online markets are still able to advertise their services in Norway.

It appears that Norway is a country that wants to have their cake and eat it and whilst it is bloated from its own greed, it’s too lazy to stop others picking at the crumbs. Has anyone been arrested for gambling online in Norway? No, not one. Do people in Norway gamble online outside of Norwegian territory? Yes, and in their thousands!

See, the issue is, is that no government can fully control the Internet and its services. Imagine the uproar. So, they put in place very confusing laws and rules. They control the state games and that the taxes and profit from that. But still, condemn outside influence because they can’t be seen to promote gambling they are not in control of. Yet, the sites are open and there is no question that they are taking business payments for not blocking sites that are open to Norwegian players.

Accessing an Online Casino

There is a multitude of online casinos registered outside of the Norwegian borders that provide a service to those wishing to use their krone currency to play and win in kind. These are sites licensed by external government regulators to Norway, such as the Malta Gaming Authority and the UK Gambling Commission.

Whilst Norway provides its own lotteries and minimal sports betting, inside an online casino, you are able to enjoy vastly diverse games such as live dealer table and card features such as roulette, blackjack, poker and even gaming show options like Dream Catcher and Deal or No Deal.

There is also the luxury of having over 5000 different online slot machines to experience and with them the chance to play progressive jackpot slots that come with multi-million jackpot prizes.