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

Quick links
Online casinos in Sweden
Online poker in Sweden
Online sportsbooks in Sweden
Online bingo in Sweden

Gambling in Sweden
In 1997, Sweden's two major lotteries, Tipstjanst and Svenska Penninglotteriet, merged to form a single company. The new organization changed its name to AB Svenska Spel in April 1997. Today Svenska Spel, along with Travoch Galopp (the Swedish horse racing organization), runs a complete monopoly over all gambling in Sweden, including casinos, game machines, sports betting, poker games, and lotteries.

The state-run monopoly over all forms of gambling in Sweden has received considerable criticism from the EU and its constituent nations. Other gambling companies have tried to take part in the lucrative gambling market in Sweden, but have failed. While Svenka Spel is doing quite well, there are rumors that the Swedish government is considering breaking up the monopoly and selling off Svenska Spel, opening the world of Swedish gambling to foreign interests.

Online Gambling in Sweden
If this happens, online gambling in Sweden will become a huge area of interest for foreign gambling companies, because while internet gambling is fully legal there, the Svenska Spel monopoly applies to the internet as well. In 2002 the Swedish government voted to allow Svenska Spel and Travoch Galopp operate on the internet. Sweden's online gambling portal currently offers everything from sports betting to poker, bingo, and lottery.

Pressure from the EU does not seem to be helping the situation. Recent talks in the Swedish government have considered IP blocking and other means of preventing foreign gambling websites from reaching Swedish players. This is all happening at the same time that Svenska Spel may be losing its grip on sports betting and other areas that have been monopolized for many years. The future of internet gambling in Sweden is very uncertain, but today the situation is still very relaxed, and Swedish players find it easy to gamble at foreign websites, and at the official Svenska Spel website too.