Online Football Betting and the Scottish Premier League
December 12, 2020ProScore Academy
December 13, 2020The online casino industry in Europe has grown greatly over the last ten years. The gains experienced by both operators and gambling agencies has been significant. The UK and Finland have a huge population of gamblers and betting operators who provide a plethora of online casino games. Gambling laws and habits between the two countries differ due to cultural and institutional reasons.
Finnish Culture and the Gambling Habits of the Finns
Finland is judged to be the fourth biggest gambling nation worldwide according to the University of Helsinki. About 5% of the population aged 17-75 have gambling issues of which the male population is three times more addicted than the female population. The government of Finland is heavily worried about the gambling habits of the citizens and has rolled out several programs to mitigate gambling problems. These programs include several self-control protocols, bankroll options, and deposit limit recommendations.
Benefits of Online Gambling in Finland
Finns and Britons have access to different features when they visit an online casino in their respective countries. Some of these differences are due to different policies on identity verification, online banking, and taxation, and some are to do with restrictive measures put upon citizens by their governments. According to expert casino site netticasinosuomi.info (in Finnish), these are the biggest differences between the two countries:
Instant Registration from Trustly
Trustly is a reliable payment option that integrates payments with identity verification, It allows bettors to pay straight away after being verified by their BankID when they make their first deposit. Players who have a Trustly account can register in nearly every Finnish casino instantly and without any issue.
An unregulated Market
The online casino industry in Finland is not regulated. Although local betting operators are state-run, lots of foreign-based online casinos operate with little or no control. Players can enjoy the opportunity of placing bets with various overseas casinos without having limitations. Even though the Finnish government frowns at the operations of these overseas casinos, players can join and make money from them without penalties.
No Bonus Restrictions
Both the Finnish online casinos and foreign-based casinos offer a plethora of bonus and rewards systems. Unlike most countries that have strict rules with all types of bonuses, Finnish players enjoy a very seamless bonus system where there are no impediments. Terms and conditions guiding bonuses are so relaxed and flexible for intending bettors.
Addiction Helplines
Finland is one of the European countries suffering from huge gambling addiction from most of its citizens. There are several programs rolled out by the government both online and offline to combat addiction. Also, all licensed gambling firms are mandated to provide gambling therapy services to all registered customers. Finnish gamblers are regularly looked after by the government of the day.
Using the Euro
It is easier for Finnish players to bet on online casinos because all online casinos accept the euro denomination as payment currency. It’s because of this unifying currency that most European bookies and online casinos target Finnish players. In addition, being a member of the EEA means that there are no taxes levied on winnings for Finns if the casino is also licensed by an EEA member country!
Finland vs British Online Casino Rules
Betting laws are sometimes complicated in most nations due to legal and economic factors. Firstly, the UK gambling industry is guided by the gambling law of 2005 and managed by the UK gambling commission. This agency looks over all gambling activities in the country, issues permits, and sanctions all erring online casinos. Finland’s betting activities were run by the state using three agencies: Ray (in charge of table games and slot machines), Veikkaus Oy (in charge of sports gambling and instant win bets), and Fintoto (in charge of Horse gambling). Recently, these three agencies have been merged into one monopoly, Veikkaus.
Moreover, in the UK’s gambling system, all profits made by betting operators can be used to do what they like, however, a slight portion of 5% should be used for CSR. This is not the case with Finland’s betting environment. All profits made by betting firms are reinvested back into the economy to support education, aviation, and power.
Furthermore, Finland has some fuzzy foreign gambling laws. The Finnish gambling laws forbid overseas online gambling, but this law is a mere statement as citizens can bet on overseas-based casino websites without repercussions. The UK gambling commission, however, does not frown at overseas casinos, however, any online overseas betting sites that wants to offer its services to UK citizens must be licensed by the commission after meeting its standard requirements. This does not apply to those on the “whitelist” like operators from Gibraltar, Isle of man, Alderney and Tasmania.
