In recent years, regulations and laws regarding gambling online has gotten a lot different in many European countries. In Sweden, like in so many other EU nations, the regulations have gotten tighter with much more legal obstacles for both new local and foreign businesses to penetrate the market. Let’s look at what new casino regulations in Sweden have been implemented by the local government and lawmakers.
Low deposit limits
If you’re a high-roller gambling player from Sweden, that’s bad news. Since July 2nd of last year, players of online casinos will make deposits up to 5,000 SEK per week or 500 USD, approximately.
As social minister Lena Hallengren claimed, the effects of the outbreak were serious stimuli for the online gambling community. People decided to spend more time and money online, gambling which caused concern and posed a real threat, in the eyes of the government. By limiting weekly deposits and bonuses of no greater than 100 SEK (or 10 USD), players will have a much less fun time, if they are used to playing no limits Hold’Em or make high stakes and the 5,000 SEK weekly limit is too low for them. However, the initial legal document outlined the 31st of December in 2020 as the end date for these regulations but with COVID-19 not likely going anywhere, the deadline has been extended through June of 2021.
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Crackdowns from the Spelinspektionen
The gaming commission of Sweden (Spelinspektionen) has been on a bona fide spree, suspending tens of different gambling operators who have been doing business in Sweden without a proper license. With 45 different brands being suspended, most of them being located in Cyprus, Malta and the island country of Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean. It’s hard to penalise these businesses and prevent them from reopening in the future.
The goal of the government is to reduce the total number of active players by 40%. But, as unofficial figures could suggest, only legally operating local casinos and gambling sites suffered with LeoVegas losing one fifth of its revenue. LeoVegas players, likely just moved offshore, where no restrictions are applied.
Foreign threats and VPN use from players
In today’s world, it is easy to bypass any kind of internet restrictions, especially if the user is able to use a virtual private network (so-called VPN). He or she can enable the VPN and bypass every single restriction by signing up to a new platform and making it look like they’re doing it from a completely different part of the globe.
Local gambling authorities in Sweden fear that the crackdown and restrictions may have been too rough and fear a huge influx of foreign-based online casinos and online gambling sites. William Hill, Betsson, NetEnt and other huge names in the online casino and betting industries have signed a petition which encourages the government to re-consider the restrictions and soften them or take them back altogether.
