Finland

Online gambling in Finland historically has been controlled by one government monopoly, Penningautomatförening (PAF), the only gambling company of Finland’s autonomous Åland Islands. PAF runs a website out of the Åland Islands that offers casino games, a poker room, bingo, and an online sportsbook. The site is available to all Finns, which caused issues a few years ago with Raha-automaattiyhdistys, the Finnish Slot Machine Association (RAY), and Finland’s land-based gaming monopoly. RAY believed PAF's Internet casino was infringing on their monopoly. The Finnish government overruled RAY at the time, thus continuing PAF’s stronghold as the only legal provider of online gambling in Finland.

Even with considerable pressure from the European Commission (EU), Finland continues to prohibit other companies from offering online gambling in Finland. However, in early 2010, after some consideration, the Finnish parliament gave RAY permission to expand into online casino and poker gambling, and the Finnish state lottery, Veikkaus Oy, was approved to offer online bingo and numbers games. RAY opened its new online gaming service for Finnish consumers on 29 November 2010. RAY predicts revenues of EUR 25 million for their online business in 2012 alone.

Veikkaus Oy, owned by the Finnish government, offers sports betting and online lottery and is the second of the three state monopolies allowed to operate online gambling in mainland Finland. Fintoto, which offers race betting, is the third.

Finland’s decision to allow the two companies to add online products may be because they are realizing that private operators can help fuel competition and compete better with the foreign operators.

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