Finland

Gambling machines should be banned from Finnish supermarkets

Published

6 years ago

November 9, 2017

Finland’s health institute THL says that the ubiquitous gambling machines found in most of the country’s supermarkets should be removed. As an example, the agency pointed to Norway which saw problem gambling statistics tumble after the country removed gaming machines from shops a decade ago.

A working group at Finland’s National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) says that the country should get rid of the gambling machines which are found in virtually all of its supermarkets in order to reduce the harms that problem gambling cause.

According to THL the country of Norway, dealing with its own gambling problems, outlawed gaming machines in supermarkets in 2007, and saw gambling problem figures plummet.

An agency working group on the issue listed other measures could take to help minimise gambling maladies.

The group suggested one way to prevent gamblers from excessive betting would be to compel gamers themselves to set maximum limits of money they are able to use on the colourful, noisy machines during a certain period of time. The group also suggested that access to gambling machines should be limited in places where alcohol is served.

All legal domestically-based gambling in Finland is run by the firm Veikkaus, a state-owned, non-profit gaming monopoly. Finland’s Ministry of Education is in charge of allocating Veikkaus’ profits, with proceeds going to various charities, amateur sport groups, the arts and other entities.

According to the Finnish news agency STT, Veikkaus is opposed to limits on where gaming machines can be placed.

Common problem

THL says the demographic groups which suffer the most from gambling include young adults, people with earlier gambling problems and those in poor socio-economic situations.

Finland’s gambling figures have risen even though its population numbers have gone down, according to the agency. During the period of 2011-2015 the proportion of people identified as problem gamblers rose from 11 to 15 percent.

An estimated 120,000 residents in Finland have a gambling problem, according to THL. In 2015 nearly 20 percent of Finnish residents had a relative whose gambling was out of control.

A separate THL working group has proposed that Finland set up a new centre that would help fight problem gaming.

The working groups’ reports were handed over to the Minister of Family Affairs and Social Services Annika Saarikko on Wednesday.

George Miller

George Miller (Gyorgy Molnar) started his career in content marketing and has started working as an Editor/Content Manager for our company in 2016. George has acquired many experiences when it comes to interviews and newsworthy content becoming Head of Content in 2017. He is responsible for the news being shared on multiple websites that are part of the European Gaming Media Network.

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EEG iGaming Directory

NYX Gaming Group confirms latest major customer for OGS™ with Paf agreement

Published

6 years ago

December 14, 2017

George Miller

NYX Gaming Group has agreed a deal with Paf to integrate the Finnish operator to its award-winning OGS™ (Open Gaming System).

Paf serves players from countries including Finland, Sweden, Estonia and Spain. It will deliver a host of proven proprietary NYX content from the company’s four in-house games studios, including NextGen Gaming, as well as the more than 40 third-party studios on the OGS network.

Included in the initial launch list are blockbuster titles Foxin’ Wins™, Jackpot Jester 50,000 and Witch Pickings™. The timing of this deal allows Paf to launch directly onto NYX’s latest promotional tool, Free Rounds 2, enabling it to run diverse and tailor-made free round campaigns, offering a vastly improved player choice and experience.

NYX Commercial Director Andrew Maclean said: “NYX is pleased to enter into this agreement and provide our valuable partners at Paf access to our market-leading NextGen Gaming content. “We look forward to working together to bring additional high quality digital content to Paf’s players, from proprietary game studios, as well as the stellar, third-party NYX suppliers, all available by a single, swift implementation of OGS.”

Paf Chief Gaming Officer Kim Johansson said: ” We are excited to be partnering with such a well-established and respected supplier as NYX. Their wide offering in proprietary games and third-party content will add quality and variety to our current offering.“

casino

Polices forces former NHL player to quit his casino affiliate business

Published

6 years ago

December 12, 2017

George Miller

Former NHL player has quit his casino affiliate business. Sami Helenius was contacted by The Police of Finland.

Helenius launched his first affiliate site Kasino Curt in the end of October, but he quit his business after the Police of Finland contacted him.

Helenius run his business from Finland, where only three organizations, which merged in the beginning of this year, are allowed to run gambling operations under the Lotteries Act. To avoid legal problems Kasino Curt did not publish marketing materials in Finnish. Instead Kasino Curt decided to target Swedish casino enthusiasts with Swedish marketing materials.

Of the legal problems, Helenius said, “I decided to quit my business, when the Police of Finland sent me a request for clarification. They suspected that we are really marketing to Finns, not to Swedes. After reading their message I immediately understood that there was no way for me to convince them that we are not targeting Finns. Among other things they wanted to know, if Finns could gamble on the gambling sites we wanted to advertise in kasinocurt.com. Finland does not block gambling sites, so of course it’s possible. Finland defends its monopoly very, very aggressively, even when the “aggressor” is not targeting Finnish casino enthusiasts. This is very disappointing and frustrating, as I had big plans for Kasino Curt.”

Sami Helenius (born January 22, 1974) is a retired Finnish ice hockey player. Known for his role as an enforcer, Helenius played for Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks during his time in NHL. Helenius became known as the “Fighting Finn,” as he was the first Finn in NHL known as an enforcer. Kasino Curt was named after Swedish ice hockey coach Curt Lindström, who coached the Finnish men’s national ice hockey team between 1993 and 1997, winning Finland’s first Ice Hockey World Championships gold medal in 1995.