Online Casinos in Finland

The Legal Position

Online casino games are lawful in mainland Finland, but they are not an open market. The Lotteries Act (arpajaislaki 1047/2001) provides that "Veikkaus Oy:llä on yksinoikeus rahapelien toimeenpanemiseen" — Veikkaus Oy has the exclusive right to operate gambling games. Finland is therefore a state monopoly for online casino rather than a licensing market, and no other operator can currently hold a Finnish online casino licence. The Åland Islands have their own arrangements and are outside the mainland regime.

Who Regulates It and Under What Law

Supervision sits with the National Police Board, known in Finnish as Poliisihallitus. The Lotteries Act makes it "responsible for the national supervision of the operation of lotteries and for compiling gambling statistics", and separately gives it the task of supervising gambling marketing against both the Lotteries Act and the Consumer Protection Act.

What Is Changing, and When

Finland has legislated a move away from the monopoly. The new Gambling Act, rahapelilaki 10/2026, states that "Tämä laki tulee voimaan 1 päivänä heinäkuuta 2027" — the Act enters into force on 1 July 2027 — while its licensing chapter and several other provisions came into force earlier, on 1 March 2026. Under the new Act gambling may only be operated by a holder of an exclusive-right licence or a gambling licence, and the forms a gambling licence may cover include "sähköiset kasinopelit" — electronic casino games. Lotteries and physical slot machines and casino games stay with the exclusive-right licence.

Who Will Regulate It

The Act provides that "Valvontaviranomaisena toimii Lupa- ja valvontavirasto" — the supervisory authority is the Licensing and Supervision Agency — and that this authority grants the licences. Its transitional provisions keep the National Police Board as the competent authority until 30 June 2027.

The Minimum Age

The minimum age is 18. The Lotteries Act forbids Veikkaus Oy, and any business or body that forwards gambling entries or payments, to let anyone under 18 gamble. The new Gambling Act carries the same threshold into the licensed regime by requiring that a registered player be a natural person who has turned 18.