Online Gambling in Finland

Online gambling in Finland is legal and has been offered since 1996, but it is also monopolized. Currently only PAF offers internet gambling in Finland with a full online casino and bingo site.

They offer their services to players throughout Finland, which has caused conflict with RAY in the north, who believe the PAF site infringes on their monopoly. RAY wants to set up an online gambling site, but does not want to have to compete with PAF. Finland's interior minister Kari Rajamäki overruled the complaint, and PAF remains the largest supplier of Finnish online gambling.

The EU has put tremendous pressure on Finland to break open these monopolies, and to allow other companies to offer gambling in Finland, both online and offline.

The Finnish government has put up quite a fight, insisting that all gambling in Finland is not-for-profit, but the EU disagrees, and the matter is yet to be resolved.

About Finaland

Finland, officially known as the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.

Around 5.4 million people reside in Finland, with the majority concentrated in the southern region. It is the eighth largest country in Europe in terms of area and the most sparsely populated country in the European Union.

Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in Helsinki and local governments in 336 municipalities. A total of about one million residents live in the Greater Helsinki area (which includes Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa), and a third of the country's GDP is produced there. Other larger cities include Tampere, Turku, Oulu, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Kuopio and Kouvola.