Skip to content

Gambling in Finland: Laws and Online Gambling

WATCH THE COUNTRY GUIDE · ENGLISH CAPTIONS

Online gambling in Finland: laws and player risks

Elodie explains online casino rules in Finland, the evidence on player enforcement, offshore risks and how to assess available options. Checked 8 November 2026.

Video transcript and official sources → · Country video guides →

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Finland is in the middle of the largest change to its gambling system in decades. Until 30 June 2027, the state-owned company Veikkaus Oy holds the exclusive right to organise gambling in mainland Finland under the Lotteries Act (arpajaislaki, 1047/2001). From 1 July 2027, the new Gambling Act (rahapelilaki, 10/2026) opens online casino games and betting to competing operators holding a Finnish licence. Lotteries and some other games will remain under an exclusive licence. Applications have been accepted since 1 March 2026, but no new licence can take effect before 1 July 2027. This guide explains the current monopoly, the licensing system that will replace it, the position of players, enforcement, consumer protection and the open questions of the transition. The Åland Islands, an autonomous region, have their own arrangements and are not covered by this summary.

Key points

Until 30 June 2027, only Veikkaus Oy may offer or market gambling in mainland Finland. Other operators targeting Finland act unlawfully and may face criminal liability.
From 1 July 2027, gambling licences of up to five years will cover betting, online casino games, electronic bingo and gaming machines. An exclusive licence of ten years will cover lotteries and pool betting, and separately gaming machines and casino games.
The National Police Board supervises gambling until 30 June 2027. A new Supervisory Agency (Lupa- ja valvontavirasto) takes over from 1 July 2027.
Payment service providers must block payments to blocklisted operators until the end of June 2027. The obligation falls on payment providers, not on players.
A central self-exclusion register opens on 1 July 2027. Peluuri (0800 100 101) is the national gambling-harm helpline.
In 2023, 4.2% of Finns had a gambling problem according to the national population survey, up from 3% in earlier surveys.

Regional overview: Gambling laws in the EU and the rest of Europe puts all 55 countries and territories on one map, grouped by how they regulate gambling.

Last reviewed: 20 October 2026.

Historical development

Finland has organised gambling for public-benefit purposes through state-controlled operators for many decades. The Lotteries Act (1047/2001) gave the right to organise money lotteries, betting, gaming machines and casino games to a single state-owned company, now Veikkaus Oy. The Act also gave the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health a statutory role. Under section 52, the ministry is responsible for monitoring, researching and assessing gambling harm, and its gambling page explains that the costs of this work are charged to Veikkaus.

The model came under growing pressure. Online gambling with foreign operators grew, and research recorded persistent gambling harm. The national survey “Gambling among Finns”, run every four years since 2003 by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), documents these trends. The government’s answer was the new Gambling Act, which keeps exclusive rights for lotteries and similar games but introduces a licensing system for the parts of the market where offshore competition is strongest.

Legal framework

Two statutes currently overlap. The Lotteries Act (1047/2001) governs the market until 30 June 2027. The new Gambling Act (10/2026) has already created the licensing procedure, and its operational provisions apply from 1 July 2027. The Police explain the transition in their guidance on the gambling reform. Veikkaus keeps the exclusive right until the end of June 2027. The new licensing system takes effect on 1 July 2027, and applications could be submitted from 1 March 2026. Licences for gaming software suppliers follow later, with applications from July 2027 and the licence requirement from 1 July 2028.

Finland is an EU member state, but EU law has not harmonised gambling regulation. As the Police’s page on the supervision of gambling notes, a gambling licence granted in one member state does not entitle its holder to operate in another. A Maltese or Swedish licence therefore does not authorise an operator to target Finnish residents.

Supervision is also changing. Until 30 June 2027 the National Police Board supervises gambling and issues licences, with gambling policy guided by the Ministry of the Interior. From 1 July 2027 a new Supervisory Agency takes over supervision and licensing.

The new licensing model

Reviewing online authorisation with Finnish lakes and Helsinki architecture

The Police’s page on licences under the Gambling Act describes three licence types. The Police’s application instructions add the detail on each one.

Gambling licence (rahapelitoimilupa). According to the application instructions, it covers fixed-odds betting, pool (variable-odds) betting, virtual betting, electronic casino games, electronic bingo and electronic gaming machines. It is granted for at most five years at a time. Applicants and key persons must meet reliability and suitability requirements, and applicants established outside the EEA must appoint a representative resident in the EEA. The licence cannot be granted to the holder of an exclusive licence.
Exclusive licence (yksinoikeustoimilupa). According to its application instructions, it covers two separate categories: money lotteries and pool betting games, and gaming machines and casino games. It may be granted only to a limited company controlled by the Finnish state whose purpose is to run gambling, and it is always granted for ten years.
Gaming software licence (peliohjelmistotoimilupa) for suppliers of gambling software. Applications open in July 2027.

In 2026 the application fee for a gambling or exclusive licence is €29,000, and the target processing time is six to eight months. A licence does not allow a company to start operating at once. The Police’s page on licence holders’ obligations states that gambling may begin no earlier than 1 July 2027. Before that, the licence must have been granted, the operator’s systems must have been audited by an accredited testing laboratory, and the operator must have connected to the authority’s supervision system. Licence holders must submit annual reports, including a self-supervision plan and a report on preventing problem gambling, and pay an annual supervision fee.

Online gambling and enforcement during the transition

Until 30 June 2027, Veikkaus is the only lawful online gambling provider in mainland Finland. The Police’s page on illegal gambling states that all gambling services offered by other operators are prohibited and punishable under the Criminal Code if their activities target Finland. Even marketing gambling requires a licence if the marketing targets Finland, and all forms of direct and indirect advertising can count as marketing.

The main administrative tool against offshore operators is payment blocking. Under the Police’s page on payment blocks in gambling, the National Police Board can ban payment transactions with gambling companies that market their services in breach of the law. Payment service providers and virtual currency providers must then block outgoing payments to the listed operators by any method, including cards and crypto-assets. The blocklist is published as a downloadable file. The bans remain in place until the end of June 2027. They do not apply to residents of the Åland Islands.

From July 2027 the enforcement model will rest on the new licensing system. Operators without a Finnish licence will remain unlawful, and licensed operators will be allowed to market their services subject to the restrictions of the Gambling Act.

Position of players

The prohibitions in Finnish gambling law are directed at operators and marketers. The Police state that the payment-blocking rules bind only payment service providers and virtual currency providers, so a player whose payment is blocked faces no liability. We found no provision making it an offence for an individual to gamble on a foreign website, and no record of players being prosecuted for doing so.

Players with unlicensed operators are, however, outside Finnish protection. The Police warn that consumers who take part in illegal gambling are not protected by Finnish law. Winnings from operators outside the EEA are taxable income that must be reported; the taxation section below explains the rules. Disputes with licensed operators are handled differently: the Police’s information for players notes that recommendations in gambling disputes are now made by the Consumer Disputes Board.

Taxation

From 1 July 2027, lottery tax is 22% of the gaming margin for exclusive-right games and for games offered under a Finnish licence (Finlex, Act 14/2026 amending the Lottery Tax Act). The operator assesses and pays the tax itself, and winnings from games subject to lottery tax are tax-free for players (Vero, Arpajaisvero). The amended Income Tax Act also keeps winnings tax-free from games offered in another EEA state under that state’s law (Finlex, Act 15/2026 amending the Income Tax Act). Parliament’s Finance Committee said winnings from games offered in Finland without a Finnish licence will be taxable (Finance Committee statement VaVL 2/2025 vp). The new rules apply from tax year 2027. Until 30 June 2027, winnings from games run lawfully under another EEA state’s law are generally tax-free, while winnings from operators outside the EEA are taxable and must be reported (Vero, Pokeritulojen verotuksesta). Licence holders will in any case pay an annual supervision fee based on their gaming margin, under the Police’s published obligations for licence holders.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Secure account login with a padlock and shield Under the current rules, summarised in the Police’s frequently asked questions, gambling is allowed only for people aged 18 and over. Players cannot transfer money to their gambling account between midnight and 6 am. They can set daily and monthly transfer limits, and the account balance is capped at €20,000. Only Veikkaus may market gambling. Under the Police’s page on marketing of gambling, its marketing must not target minors, glamorise gambling, present gambling as a solution to problems or overemphasise the chance of winning. Bonuses are prohibited. Casino games, online scratch cards and gaming machines may not be marketed outside the places where they are offered.

The reform introduces a national self-exclusion register. According to the Police’s page on self-exclusion, players will be able to register from 1 July 2027 through an online service with strong electronic identification. They may choose a fixed period or exclude themselves indefinitely. An indefinite exclusion lasts at least one year, and removal takes effect three months after the player asks (Gambling Act 10/2026, section 29). The register covers licensed gambling as a whole. Players who want to exclude themselves from only one type of game must contact the operator.

Peluuri offers free, nationwide support for people with gambling problems and their families. It runs a helpline (0800 100 101, weekdays 12:00–18:00), chat, online peer support, self-help materials and treatment programmes. Our responsible gambling guide offers general advice on limits and warning signs.

The scale of harm is documented by THL. Its gambling statistics, based on the 2023 survey of 5,977 people, show that 70% of Finns had gambled in the previous year, down from 78% in 2019. About 4.2% (around 151,000 people) had a gambling problem: 6.6% of men and 1.8% of women. In 2023, 44% gambled online, and 7% had gambled on foreign sites.

Recent and upcoming developments

The period from March 2026 to July 2027 is a transition. Licence applications are being processed. By 22 September 2026 the National Police Board had received 75 applications, some possibly from the same company, and had granted none (iGaming Business, 28 September 2026). The Police have issued technical regulations on applications, system security, randomness testing, reporting and supervision fees, published on their page of decisions and publications. Operators must complete audits and system integration before the market opens.

As of 5 November 2026, the National Police Board’s published list of licences granted under the new Gambling Act shows licences with validity dates from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2032, unless otherwise specified.

The reform is debated. THL expects it to increase the availability of gambling. In its statement The availability of gambling is increasing, it argues that competition between dozens of operators will increase marketing. It warns that harm prevention will rely heavily on operators’ duty of care, and that online casino games carry a particularly high risk of harm. THL also highlights the risk of indebtedness among young adults, especially young men. Supporters of the reform expect it to bring more of the online market under Finnish supervision. Whether that happens will only become measurable once the licensed market operates. THL has said that supply, marketing, harms and public opinion will need monitoring after July 2027, with particular attention to adolescents and young adults.

Sources and further reading

Finlex, Rahapelilaki 10/2026 (2026).
Finlex, Arpajaislaki 1047/2001 (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Licences under the Gambling Act (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Rahapelitoimilupa – hakemuksen täyttöohje (2026).
Poliisi, Yksinoikeustoimilupa – hakemuksen täyttöohje (2026).
Poliisi, Toimiluvanhaltijan velvollisuudet (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Illegal gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Payment blocks in gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Marketing of gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Self-exclusion (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Frequently asked questions about gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, For players (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Supervision of gambling (accessed 5 October 2026).
Poliisi, Päätökset ja julkaisut (accessed 5 October 2026).
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Gambling – data and statistics (accessed 5 October 2026).
Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), The availability of gambling is increasing (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Gambling-related harm (accessed 5 October 2026).
Peluuri, Peluuri – apua rahapelihaittoihin (accessed 5 October 2026).

Casino listings for players in Finland

Until 30 June 2027, no operator other than Veikkaus may lawfully offer or market online casino games in mainland Finland. The listings below are generated from our casino database and must not be read as an indication that any listed operator is authorised in Finland. After July 2027, check the Supervisory Agency’s records and the licence number shown on the operator’s site before relying on any operator. A Finnish-language website, Finnish customer support or a licence from another EU state does not establish Finnish authorisation.

888 Casino

100% up to

€500

+ 100 Spins

Liberty Slots Casino

No Deposit Bonus

$ 18

CasinoChan

50% up to

€100

+ 30 Spins

Tsars Casino

100% up to

€300

+ 100 Spins

Related News

Illustration of a ballot slip dropping into a ballot box, a gavel and a stamped decree in front of a courthouse with columns, with a globe and a padlock in the background

Gambling Regulation Roundup: Nebraska Rejects Online Betting, Haiti Creates a Regulator and More

PRAGMATIC-PLAY-ROLLS-OUT-SMART-STUDIO-SOLUTION-FOR-RANK-GROUP

Pragmatic Play Rolls Out Smart Studio Tables for Rank Group

YouTube-expands-personalized-gambling-ads-but-prediction-markets-face-limits

Google Expands YouTube Gambling Ad Targeting in Three Markets

Playson-goes-full-speed-ahead-with-Blitz-Mode

Playson Introduces Faster Gameplay with Blitz Mode

Illustration of a domed parliament building and a globe under a night sky, with a stamped licence document and a gavel in the foreground

Gambling Regulation Roundup: Nevis Prediction Market Licence, Italy Slot Tax Rise and More