Official language: Norwegian
Population: 4,805,437
Currency: Norwegian Krone (NOK)

Current Exchange Rate
1 EUR = 8.3390 NOK
1 GBP = 9.1965 NOK
1 USD = 5.5740 NOK

Poker in Norway
All forms of live poker are forbidden in Norway. There used to be a number of poker halls around the country, especially in Oslo, but the police have been slowly cracking down on the underground clubs. By 2007 none remained. This has not dampened the spirits of Norwegian poker players and the game is still very popular in certain circles.

Norway has produced some amazing poker players over the years. Perhaps the most well-known player is Annette Obrestad, who goes by the online handle Annette_15. This high school dropout has won at least $USD 3.3 million, including a $2 million prize from her big WSOP win (she was only 18 when she won) and $500,000 from various Pokerstars online tournaments. Obrestad has said she prefers playing online poker.

Online Poker in Norway
Online gambling in Norway is legal, but only at state-run gambling sites. There are no internet poker sites in Norway, only lotto and sportsbooks. As of December 2008, the Norwegian government has made it illegal for players to gamble at foreign online poker sites, so Norweigans are facing a difficult situation when trying to play online.

The EU is against the online gambling ban, but since Norway is not a full EU state, not much can be done. Norway wants to have a monopoly on all internet gambling, and it seems they are getting what they want. But despite the ban, Norwegian players will still use foreign online poker sites, since the government has no jurisdiction where these foreign sites are located. They are trying to prevent banks from processing payments to internet poker sites, but players still find ways to fund their accounts.