Online Casino Gaming In Finland Imposes Loss Limit

Published: 31/07/2020 | Last Updated: 09/10/2020

Online Casinos In Finland Imposes Loss Limit

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Online casino gaming is rapidly expanding its influence in all parts of the world. Finnish online casino operators are now obliged to set a loss limit of 500 EUR per player. More and more countries are changing their outlook towards the industry. Many countries are starting to realize the potential of the industry as a contributor to economic growth.

Online gaming contributed a massive amount of tax revenue to countries with existing legislation on online gambling. The fast rise of online gambling in many countries has attracted a considerable number of gamblers. The industry created a new breed of gamblers that could place a massive amount of bets at any time. Many online casinos have high wagering limits, which allowed gamblers to spend more cash while playing.

Many states in the US started legalizing online casinos, following the Supreme Court decision to lift the ban on the industry in 2018.

UK’s gambling Act of 2005 opened the window for online gambling sites to seek legality in the territory. Despite strict restrictions on online gambling, there are millions of eager online gamblers in Asia. Most gamblers place their wages in offshore online casinos located in a third party country with legislations on online gambling.

Finland’s online gambling

Finland’s Government controls all gambling operations of the state, which includes land-based and online gambling.

Brick-and-mortar gambling is regulated by RAY, which supervises land-based casinos, table games, slot machines, and traditional casino games.

The national lottery, sports betting, and instant win games are under the supervision of Veikkaus Oy, while horse racing follows the guidelines of Fintoto Oy. Another gambling regulator, PAF, supervises all gambling operations in the autonomous region of Aland Province and consists of islands that extend to the Black Sea.

All the gambling regulators work under the Finnish Government’s direction, and the tax revenue collected from the industry goes to social projects such as events, arts, science, and education. Offshore gambling platforms are banned from operating in the country, but many companies bids to enter the Finnish gambling market.

The country has no legal machinery to track down and censor offshore online gambling platforms or block any financial transaction with them. These companies were the biggest competition of the state-run online gambling site in Finland.

Finland imposes loss limit

The rapid growth in online gambling raised concerns from problem gambling groups and gambling regulators. The Finnish Government imposed loss limit restrictions in response to the high demand of the industry. The restrictions aimed to reduce the number of losses of people who were already hit by the pandemic.

Finland’s Interior Ministry announced the restrictions, which reduced the limit from €2,000 to €500. The new rule is valid until at least September 30. Finland suspended its lottery draw during the pandemic. The regulators aimed at protecting people from themselves. Many tend to spend more cash when there are no restrictions imposed. The loss limit applies to all online games such as eBingo, online slots, and table games except poker.

The regulation applies only to state-run online gaming platforms, which add to the challenges they are facing. Veikkaus struggles to compete with offshore online gaming platforms even before the pandemic.