Gambling in Finland

One of the first things that hit us when we arrived in Finland was the presence of gambling machines everywhere. You see them in grocery stores, in coach stations, at the airport and in malls. It’s possible to play Blackjack or other card games in nightclubs between two dances. So, we set out to learn more about this situation. It was intriguing since we come from a country where gambling is forbidden to minors and very restricted.

Contrary to what you might think at first, gambling is heavily controlled in Finland by the government since before World War II. The European Union actually puts pressure on the Finnish government to increase gambling in Finland. Currently, there are only two casinos in Finland, compared to approximately 200 in France. One is situated in Helsinki and one in Mariehamn, in the south west of the country. The first machines date back to the 1920’s but the abuses by private business forced the government to limit licences to charities. For example, Ray is a non-profit company. It raises money for the retirement as well as to found mental health care for gambling addiction.

In November 2010, Finland launched their first online poker website controlled by Ray and the government. The Finnish player can play tax free since it’s licenced and controlled by the EU. But the low player volume caused a leak to other websites in other countries.

In a Finnish newspaper it was reported that Finns spend 50 million euros annually on foreign online poker sites. Although the Finnish government discourages online gambling outside of the country’s borders there are no actual laws forbidding them from doing so.

Another online gambling site emerged. It was created by PAF another company licensed by the government and the EU. A competition of odds and prizes began between Ray and PAF. This year PAF won.

Furthermore, the EU has been reviewing Finland’s gambling industry and its compliance with EU laws. The government has a strict control and monitors gambling activities. This allowed it to protect the players and limit illegal games. In November 2013, the EU ruled that, provided the individual states comply with the regulations, Finland’s existing policies on gambling are acceptable.

But gambling is dangerous and can create a lot of problems such as addiction. When it comes to gambling it doesn’t matter what country or how many laws are passed to deter people from gambling, there are those individuals that will become consumed by it, like by any addiction. Most gamblers in Finland have not found themselves in the category of problem gambler. For many years the Finnish government has been actively engaging in social programs to address this issue. Just 1% of the player were diagnosed with a gambling problem. Males were affected more than females just as in the other European countries. Recent studies show that younger men were more prone to be affected than older men, but it’s the opposite with women. Moreover, men who play exclusively online are more likely to have a gambling addiction. But women who engaged in both offline and online gambling and had a drinking addiction were also significantly more likely to have a gambling problem.

We can conclude that, whether online or offline, Finnish get caught up in the gambling craze just like any other nation, but the situation is actually much more under control that it might seem. And more importantly it is probably better handled than in many of its neighboring countries.