We have written in the past about the gaming situation in Norway, where the state is very much in the driving seat.
We have written in the past about the gaming situation in Norway, where the state is very much in the driving seat.
Indeed Norwegian gamers aren’t permitted to use Visa/Mastercard or their bank accounts to make payment to casinos based outside the country, and have to seek alternative payment solutions if they wish to do so.
However, this situation is not unique to Norway. It’s neighbor-but-one to the east, Finland, has in many ways an even more stringent set up.
For instance, the national gaming operator, the catchily-named Raha-Automaattiyhdistys (literally ‘money automatic connection’, or RAY for short) is the only game in town.
TV advertising is blocked for gaming (compare with Sweden where many of the big hitting online casinos advertise) with the exception of RAY itself, and there is some question whether Jokerit, an ice hockey team based in Helsinki, will be able to display their sponsor names (Betsson) on their shirts during away games (Jokerit is participating in its maiden season in a European league with teams from Russia and other CEE countries — some of which won’t have a ban on gaming advertising).
Nonetheless, gaming is hugely popular in Finland as it is in Norway.
And RAY are far from being a colorless state institution regardless of how uninspiring their name may sound.
In fact, they have just launched a live casino function powered by Playtech.
It is reported that the usual Live Dealer games including various types of BlackJack and Roulette, broadcast from RAY’s own studio at its headquarters in Espoo near Helsinki — no foreign outsourcing here.
The deal inked between Playtech and RAY is also likely to be for the longer term.
It’s also something of a boon for Playtech in a viciously competitive market with giants like NetEnt and Microgaming to compete with.
It seems on the surface at least a good example of how the public and private sector can work together to improve the gaming environment without stepping on each others’ toes.