Gambling, casinos, slot halls and online casinos in Finland

The earliest form of organized gambling appeared in Finland in the 17th century. In 1889, social rejection resulted in the law that prohibited organizing lotteries and gambling. In 1920s, the law was liberated, and the state legalized money lotteries and betting on horse racing.

Nowadays, Finns are provided with enough opportunity to gamble. Statistics ranks Finns fourth among the world’s biggest gamblers, spending around EUR 2 billion on games of chance every year. Finns wager a lot, with 80% of the population gambling in some form (https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2017/02/09/the-worlds-biggest-gamblers).

The striking feature of the Finnish gambling market is its strict regulation. The gambling proceeds of the state-owned operators go back into Finnish society. Finns never feel bad about losing because they know that the gaming proceeds will be channeled to good causes. The proceeds from gambling are used to support education, science, and culture (53%), social well-being and public health (43%), agriculture and forestry (4%). Veikkaus (the state agency that holds the exclusive right to operate gambling in Finland) generates over EUR 1 billion a year for the common good (https://www.veikkaus.fi/fi/yritys?lang=en).

In 1917, Veikkaus Oy was formed as a merger of three previously existing gambling agencies. Now, Veikkaus Oy is a single gaming company owned by the Finnish State. The company runs all online and land-based game halls, casinos, arcades, and slot machines. According to the Annual Report 2018, the turnover of the company totaled over EUR 3 billion last year. The annual revenue from gambling is approximately EUR 1.1 billion (https://cms.veikkaus.fi/site/binaries/content/assets/dokumentit/vuosikertomus/2018/veikkaus_annual_report_2018.pdf). Veikkaus Oy operates over 3,700 gaming locations, 90 Pelaamo (gaming centers across the country), Feel Vegas arcades, and over 20,000 slot machines (https://www.veikkaus.fi/fi/yritys?lang=en).