Measure taken over COVID-19

Finland’s Ministry of the Interior has released a decree that will significantly lower daily and monthly loss limits for consumers playing at Veikkaus, the state monopoly’s online casino. The operator will also be suspending all its lottery draws for the foreseeable future. 

all “fast-paced online games” will see their monthly loss limit drop from €2,500 down to €500

As part of the decree, all “fast-paced online games” will see their monthly loss limit drop from €2,500 ($2,709) down to €500 ($541), in light of the circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic. 

The maximum amount a player can now lose in a given day on these games has been lowered to €500 ($541) from €1,000 ($1,083). Anyone who loses this much in one day will not be in a position to gamble again for that given month, due to the monthly loss limit also being set at €500 ($541). 

The games in question

The games covered as part of this classification include online bingo, online slots, table games, and instant win games. Poker is excluded. The measures will come into effect on May 1 and last provisionally until September 30. 

online bingo, online slots, table games, and instant win games. Poker is excluded.

Veikkaus has already carried out technical changes to ensure it can enforce the new limits from day one. The suspension of raffle draws comes into force on May 4.

However, the operator plans to keep selling its core products during this period. Consumers will still be able to buy raffle tickets, but there will be no draws until the suspension comes to an end. 

Gambling revenues struggling

COVID-19 has already been having a material effect on the gambling sector in Finland. Last week it reported that gambling revenues had fallen by over 40% since the coronavirus hit the nation. All gaming halls and casinos have been shut down since March 13, resulting in approximately €60m ($65m) worth of lost revenue. 

The authorities have not noticed a significant transition in people signing up for online gambling accounts with Veikkaus. The online casino’s revenue has only risen by €1.5m ($1.63m) since social distancing came into effect.

To date, there have been more than 4,700 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Finland, resulting in 199 deaths.