Specifics Of The Online Gambling Industry In Finland
Many of the public places and supermarkets in Finland offer slot machines. The European countries have been using different approaches to deal with online gambling. Finland, Slovenia, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Portugal do not permit commercial gambling operations online and a monopoly is held by the government regarding the virtual casinos and lottery. The online gambling market is partly regulated in most of the European countries and the online gambling markets have only been partly deregulated in a few countries. This includes the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Italy, Estonia, Luxembourg, Latvia and Malta.
The small island of Malta has become Europe’s mecca regarding online casino sites due to their tax reliefs. Over 300 companies are established in Malta with approximately 12000 employees. Their services are offered globally and are the reason Malta is being referred to as The Silicon Valley of Casinos. Marketing and establishing companies is prohibited by the regulations but this does not mean the public is unable to enjoy the online casinos from all over the world and legally cash in any wins. Gambling, tobacco, alcohol and porn are classified as personal choices for adults in the European countries and are not illegal.
Only Finntoto and Veikkaus, PAF are able to provide the Finnish population with offline and online gambling. Gambling sites in the Finnish language are provided by as many as 100 international sites. Slot machines and actual casinos are also operated by PAF and Veikkaus in Finland. For the Western countries, the placement of the gambling and slot machines in public places is considered exceptional. Many Finns take the change they were given by the cashier and proceed to a slot machine right by the entrance to see if they can win. Although this habit is considered ordinary in Finland, this is not true for many Western countries.
In many of the other countries, the gambling machines are generally placed in bars, restaurants and casinos. Finland ensures these machine become a part of everyday life by placing them in petrol stations, kiosks and shops. The governments of regulated countries have a valid argument in stating they are preventing financial crises and gambling addictions by placing a limit on the gambling amounts. These profits support good causes for the society. PAF and Veikkaus give most of their profits to social causes, research, sports and culture. It is important to note that companies owned by the government are reliable because they do not cheat.
The commercial gambling sites online are often difficult to control due to the unregulated international market. There is no guarantee of reliability. Numerous services have attempted to solve this issue by auditing and star ranking online gaming sites. This is based on the friendliness of the sites for the users, the bonuses offered, the amount of games available and the reliability. 110,000 or 2.7 percent of all Finns between the ages of 15 and 74 have some type of gambling problem. Men are three times more likely to develop a gambling problem than women. In 2011, the age limit was changed which has decreased gambling issues among the young men.
