Sweden is known for its long
gambling history. The internet has revolutionized the way everything works,
even when it comes to gambling. Gambling being legal in Sweden has made it
easier for the establishment of
online casinos in Sweden. The legal age for gambling at physical
casinos is 20 years whereas to gamble online a player is required to be at
least 18 years. This means that if you are 18 years you are allowed:
• To buy lottery
tickets
• Gamble online
•
Play slot machines.
Gambling in
physical facilities has been legal since 1994 in Sweden. However, online
gambling was legalized in 2002. Casinos which have licenses from the Swedish
government are the only ones that are allowed to advertise their business on
Sweden televisions. Among the various online gambling games include:
•
Slot machines
•
Online poker as well as 3D Poker
•
Online Bingo, mostly played by women
Some online
casinos allow people to play using the Swedish currency. However, this is not
legalized by the government and thus you have to be careful and establish what
is legal and what is not if you are playing in any of these casinos.
Despite
both physical and online gambling being legal in Sweden, only one operator
SvenskaSpel, has been awarded the license to run the business. SvenskaSpel is
backed by the state, which says that this is an effort to protect the people
from illegal and fraudulent casino operators. The government has in return
faced a lot of criticism from the people because of making the casino industry
a monopoly. Attempts by the people to go to court have proven to be futile,
with the European Court of Justice supporting the Swedish government in its
decision to run the Casino industry as a monopoly. The Swedish citizens say
that having only one organization running the industry is contrary to the
European Union principle of allowing competition in any form of business.
The Swedish
government has however stated that it will change the gambling laws in 2014
which will allow international operators to venture into the industry.
However, until this happens, Swedish citizens can continue to gain access to
online gaming sites that are hosted by other countries, thus they can still
enjoy making bets online. The promotion and advertisement of gambling products
that are not fully licensed will go on, since this is supported by the
Lotteries Act.
Online Casinos in Sweden will remain legal with the Swedish citizens being allowed to visit various sites such as 888 and Mr. Green.