Battle on Horizon for Finnish Online Casinos
The debate about online casinos and online gambling has reached the government of Finland.
Poker sites have attracted large numbers of Finnish players, and government officials would rather see those revenues being paid to the state than leaving the country. Following the trend of some American government officials attempting to stop the huge drain of money to foreign sources, Finland is considering the possibility of creating online casinos owned by the state. Some estimate that Finnish citizens gamble $80 million each year on foreign online casinos and poker rooms, money that could help the local government. In fact, one gambling representative in neighboring country Norway recently said that up to two-thirds of outgoing monies could stay in-state with the establishment of online casinos in Finland.
Another reason for the establishment of state-owned sites is that studies show less problem gambling with this type of online casino than with foreign sites. However, one Finnish government ministry is against legalized gambling. It appears that a conflict is on the horizon in the government. One Finnish minister, Stefan Wallin, has been a proponent of stopping the financial drain to other countries in addition to addressing gambling problems.
A government committee is currently reviewing proposals and will give the state government their recommendation at the end of 2008 to the future of Finnish online casinos.
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