Now Finland Proposes the Gov't Run Online Poker

Online poker is a hot topic in Finland, as Finland's culture and sport minister Stefan Wallin claims the government should run an online poker service to bring the revenues earned by foreign operators back to Finland, in direct contrast to a proposal that the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health put forth last week to refund players' losses which would effectively ban online poker.

"It is difficult to halt the rise in the popularity of online poker. It would be better to offer players a legal and responsible alternative," says Wallin. "Responsibility would mean setting an 18 age limit and requiring players to identify themselves."

The minister underlined that Svenska Spel, the Swedish state-owned lottery and gaming group, had been authorised a couple of years ago to provide poker services over the internet, and had been successful.

Wallin said he would be satisfied if the Slot Machine Association, RAY (who operates and oversees casino games, slot machines and table games) or the Finnish National Lottery, Veikkaus Oy (Finland's national betting agency for lottery and sports betting, managed by the Finnish Ministry of Education), assumed the responsibility for regulating online poker, reported Newsroom Finland. Then any resulting revenue increase could fund public services and fight gambling addiction.

RAY OBJECTS

RAY communications director Matti Hokkanen objected to Wallin's proposal because it threatens RAY's monopoly. Currently RAY has exclusive rights to slot machine and casino activities in Finland.

"RAY, just like the government, has set the maintaining of this exclusive right in Finland as an important goal," said Hokkanen. "Our estimate is that in the present unregulated and fast-moving environment, the start of Internet casino activities would mean a threat of a certain degree to RAY's monopoly."

Hokkanen stressed that RAY has the technical capacity to support online poker. "Launching the operation would not be without complications, however, as it would undoubtedly add to some individuals' gambling problems", Hokkanen added.

He also noted that restrictions for any Finnish operator cannot be significantly tighter compared to foreign operators, or else players will simply choose to play on a foreign site.

VEIKKAUS OY CAN OPERATE ONLINE POKER TOO

Veikkaus Oy communications director Ilkka Juva, claims that Veikkaus also has the technical expertise to operate online poker services. "It is not an impossible idea at all, should the government and the gaming license holders so agree. We have plenty of technical and business experience in such matters", Juva maintained.

BAN IS STILL NEEDED SAYS SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH MINISTRY

Wallin's counterpart in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Kari Paaso, promptly dismissed the suggestion for government-run online poker, saying, "Domestic games would simply make everything even easier for gaming addicts."

Paaso points out that Sweden's experiences have not been very encouraging, according to a report released last year. He says that the move has not reduced the popularity of foreign gambling websites, and that the new national website has simply increased the overall number of players, and the amount of gambling problems.

Instead, the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health last week proposed there be legislation to enable Internet gamblers to claim back their losses, by being paid by either the firm providing the online poker services, a credit card company, or the winning player in the game (click here for related article).

They believe this is more effective than any ban, since the legislation would cause poker sites to not want to take on the associated risk of Finnish players, though they admitted not all details had been thought through.

Mr. Paaso said that the Internal Affairs committee set up to investigate problem gambling in Finland should be allowed to complete its investigation before any decision is taken.

"At the moment the idea of a national poker site is just one persons opinion," said Mr. Paaso, "but as Minister for Culture and Sports, his opinion is an important one."

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