Financial success in Finland via Online Gambling in 2009

Posted: January 5, 2010

Updated: October 4, 2017

The year 2009 has come to an end and, as a result, the world looks back on the last year to gauge how things have turned out.

The year 2009 has come to an end and, as a result, the world looks back on the last year to gauge how things have turned out. This is especially the case in regards to finances as the global community has suffered great losses over the last few years, and has just recently started climbing out of the whole.

This is especially the case in the European Union, and estimates indicate that this year will also be a tough one for many of the countries in the Euro Zone. One indicator of the ongoing hardship is the fact that the European Commission (EC) recently warned that public finances in half of the 16 euro-zone nations are at high risk of becoming unsustainable.

One of the only Euro Zone countries that seems to be at very low risk according to the EC is Finland.
One of the possible reasons behind Finland’s apparent prosperity may be the fact that Finnish gambling laws are quite lax. The Finnish are a gambling people with up to 41% of the country’s residents spending at least €14 a week on their favorite betting games.

Unlike many countries, all profits made from gambling in Finland are channeled back towards the people, funding everything from social improvement programs to health care. This is quite a bit of money considering the popularity of both land-based and online gambling sites in Finland. The government has a monopoly over all forms of gambling both on and offline.

Finnish players represent some of the top winners and losers in the industry, especially at online poker sites in Finland. Professional poker player from Finland, Patrik Antonius, made almost $9 million in profits in 2009 while compatriot player, LarsLuzak, lost nearly $4 million. In 2008, Klause E. won $5.5 million playing Mega Moolah slot at Blackjack Ballroom Casino and set a record for biggest online jackpot win in History!

The European Commission is currently trying to pressure Finland to open up its monopoly and let competitors run gambling enterprises. Finland, however, is very resistant with good reason. The system that they currently have in place seems to be working quite well.

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