Home /
News /
Casino Tampere – The Newest State Owned Casino In Finland /

Casino Tampere – The Newest State Owned Casino In Finland

The Finnish government have always been concerned about the negative social consequences of gambling. To that end, all forms of gambling, whether at land-based casinos or online, are very strictly controlled. In truth, there are no foreign casino sites allowed to operate within the country, as they are all blocked at the IP level. Just in case you're thinking of using a VPN, that will not help as all Finnish banks are legally unable to send or receive payments from international online casinos.

Rate this news

The New Finnish Casino Tampere

Though you’ve been able to gamble at brick and mortar casinos for over 30 years, all casinos in Finland have had to follow stringent regulations and all fall under the control of the state. It took until 2021 for the second official land-based casino, the Casino Tampere, to open its doors. When you consider the sheer size of the landmass of the country of Finland, it’s amazing to think that for all those previous years, there was just one casino. For a Finnish gambler, having a new casino open must seem like manna from heaven. When it comes to gambling, Finland is without a doubt, one of the most organised countries in the whole of Europe. But, as you’ll discover with this article, it does have some rather controversial rules around gambling.

Some Basic Casino Tampere Details

So let’s start off by having a look at the basic details of the latest casino to open in Finland. Its name is Casino Tampere. Here are the basic facts:

Name Casino Tampere
Opened On: The 15th of December 2021
Address: Sorinkatu 3, 33100 Tampere, Finland
Website: https://www.casinotampere.fi/
Phone: +358 200 55000
Accommodation; No
Table Games: 34
Slots: 120
Amenities: Poker Rooms, Bar & Restaurant, Nokia Arena

It goes without saying that the Casino Tampere is in the heart of Tampere City. It’s difficult to miss as it’s right next door to the massive Nokia Arena. Here you can find a huge variety of shops and restaurants. The arena itself puts on many different events from athletics to pop concerts.

First opening its doors on the 15th of December 2021, the Casino Tampere Finland has a great website. We suggest that you look around this to gain as much background information as you can as this will help increase your jackpot winning chances. The website also deals with the regulations of the casino. And also its relationship to the first casino in Finland. This was the Helsinki Casino. Now, if you’re used to playing at famous casino hubs from around the globe, such as Atlantic City or Las Vegas, then you’re going to be disappointed. The Finnish casino doesn’t offer any accommodation. The closest hotel is the Lapland Hotels Arena. Nevertheless, in spite of this lack of accommodation, you’ll find the casino offers excellent service and quality.

The Casino Tampere Games

As for the Casino Tampere floor space, there are over 20,000 square feet for gambling games. This includes over 30 gaming tables with live croupiers. Also, you’ll find a dedicated poker room with half a dozen tables. In Finland, the casino is not open 24 hours a day as they are in other gambling hubs around the globe. The Casino Tampere is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Sunday it closes earlier at 11:00 p.m. The poker rooms are open every day, but just from 5:00 p.m.

If table games are not your cup of tea, then you’ll find over 120 digital and video slot machines. Many of these jackpot slots contain some massive progressive jackpots. Finally, if you need a timeout from Casino Tampere gambling, let us suggest you pop over to the Nokia Arena next door for a complete change of ambience.

Play Slots Online at the King Billy Casino

Online Casinos Regulations In Finland

To gain a better understanding of how the Finnish casino industry functions then we need to take a deeper dive into their regulation. We need to look at Finnish gambling laws and how they apply to both operators and the public. But first things first, let’s start with the four legal bodies who oversee and control the whole gambling industry in Finland.

PAF – Regulates all gambling for Aland Province.
Fintoto Oy – Deals with horse racing.
RAY – Deals with land-based gambling.
Veikkaus Oy – Deals with the national lottery, instant win games and sports betting.

All of these four bodies are happily working as one under the heading of “Veikkaus” since 2017. We should point out that when it comes to online casinos, they were only welcome in Finland in 2007. Interestingly enough, only in one area, Aland Province. As of writing, an online gambler can play only at Finnish online casinos. These must be based within the country of Finland. Conversely, when it comes to the Aland islands, you can only play at offshore non-Finnish online gambling platforms.

Casino Tampere: All Casinos Are State-Owned

Another important fact to keep in mind is that all the land-based casinos in Finland belong to the state. The same applies to online casinos. It was possible to play at foreign online casinos, but in September 2021, all offshore operators were blocked at the IP level. Though you can use a VPN to visit casinos like King Billy Casino, you’ll need to make use of an e-wallet or cryptocurrencies, as Finnish banking forbids transactions with foreign online casinos. Unfortunately, if you’re a Finnish gambler in Finland, this leaves you with very few choices of online casinos to win the jackpot. The only possible good news is that the European Union is now starting to look into the monopoly that the government holds over the gambling sector in Finland. This may well lead to some changes further down the road which might allow foreign operators into the Finnish casino marketplace.

The History of Gambling in Finland

The Finnish were happily gambling over 70 years ago before their first casino opened its doors. In fact, between 1920 and 193, the most popular form of gambling that took place in the country was the use of slot machines. Then in 1933, the government introduced some regulations which would result in them taking charge of the jackpot games. In order to help this process, the official government regulator oversaw that RAY was formed in 1938. The next big change came in 1966 with the introduction of the PAF. At the same time, the Aland Islands started regulating their own online gambling games. Jump forward to 1971, and the first Finnish lottery took place and was regulated by the Veikkaus Oy.

Casino Tampere: Where Does The Money Go?

In 1991, the first casino in Finland opened in the capital city of Helsinki. Exactly 10 years later in 2001, the Lottery Act was passed. This was to allow the government to have complete control over all gambling businesses within Finland. Even though this law was amended in 2011, no significant changes took place. It’s this gaming monopoly that the European Union wants to remove as soon as next year. We should point out that all monies lost at the casinos are divided up for public use. That’s right, these casino businesses are all non-profit! Around 54% of income goes towards education, science and culture. Another 43% goes to agriculture and forestry, with the remaining 4% going to the state agency itself.

As you can see, if you’re going to be gambling in Finland, then you’re going to find it quite restrictive. As such, there are very few options to win the jackpot online. It doesn’t help that an amendment to the Lottery Act in 2020 means that banking options are now illegal when it comes to payments at casinos without authorisation from the Finnish government. All you can really do is cross your fingers and hope that the European Union brings enough pressure to ensure that the government changes its tune. Until then, you’ll have to deal with the land-based Casino Tampere among others. Or simply head over to King Billy Casino.