Official language: Swedish
Population: 9,234,209
Currency: Swedish Krona (SEK)

Current Exchange Rate
1 EUR = 10.1715 SEK
1 GBP = 11.0612 SEK
1 USD = 6.7864 SEK

Poker in Sweden
While poker is slowly becoming more popular across Sweden, it is hard to find a place to play. Games are only legally offered in the nation's casinos – and there are only four of them. All gambling in Sweden is controlled by a state monopoly known as Svenska Spel. All gambling not offered by Svenksa Spel is considered illegal.

The nation's four casinos are located in Sundsvall, Gothenburg, Malmö, and Stockholm. Casinos in Sweden have only been around for a few years – the first one opened in 2001 – so poker has not had much exposure there. While there have been rumors that EU pressure could cause Svenska Spel to break up, which would open Sweden to foreign gambling companies, the rumors are unconfirmed.

Online Poker in Sweden
Swedish players are not completely lost. Since 2006, Svenksa Spel has offered live, real-money poker games on the internet for Swedish players. In fact, the Svenska Spel website was the world's first state-run online poker site. The site runs on software supplied by the Swedish company Boss Media. The site is very popular, and provides a safe and trustworthy place for Swedish players to play online poker.

Some players still choose to play at online poker sites that are hosted in other countries. A few offer Swedish versions of their website which make them appealing. While Svenska Spel's gambling monopoly does not 'officially' extend to the internet, the government is considering changing this, and might go so far as to block foreign gambling websites so that they cannot be used by Swedish players. This, of course, has the EU upset because it breaks fair trade laws. The situation is confusing, and only time will tell where it will lead.