Casinos have been part of life of societies for a long time. Although taking different forms, gambling has been practiced since time immemorial. In Norway, however, to date, the practice remains highly restricted and illegalized in the country.
In case you are a binge casino player and wish to choose from a menu of games at different casinos, Norway may not favor you on this. With a lot of restrictions, Norway is a bad place for casino players. You can understand how difficult it can be to practice anything that the government highly restricts.
In Norway Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstotoare the only two casinos that have a legal monopoly of the gambling industry. Interestingly both casinos are owned by the state and operate under the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs.
Despite the existence of the two main casinos in Norway, a series of controls are still put in place to regulate their use. For instance, the government restricts who, how, and when the public can play in the casinos.
Regulations for Gambling in Norway
Except Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, no other corporate entity is legally allowed to operate for-business casinos. This means that while people can organize gambling parties privately, it should not in any way be done as a business.
Some things that the authorities look for to know whether a privately organized casino is disguised business include whether there are admission fees charged on players, club dues or any form of commissions levied.
To further restrict the operation of unauthorized casinos in Norway, the government instructed the banks to restrict the use of credit and debit cards at any casino. Nonetheless, as things stand now, much of the restrictions on casinos in Norway target land-based ones only. This means that online gambling continues to operate without any specific legal controls.
Norwegians or any foreigner in Norway can play on foreign gambling sites such as the Canadian ones since there are no restrictions for such sites operated from another country.
According to the Norwegian regulations on gambling, any entity that carries out illegal gambling against the provisions of the two state owned casinos is liable for punishment. Therefore, the country is specifically harsh on any forms of unauthorised casinos.
The Gaming Scheme Act and the Lottery Act considers a number of games as legal. These include horse betting, lotteries, sports betting, Bingo (the main prize cannot exceed 700.000 NOK), Keno and Poker (grand prize cannot exceed 2.000.000 NOK).
Norway Online Casinos and Gambling
Typical Norwegians like gambling despite the very restrictive environment by the government. From Oslo, Kristiansand, Rosenburg to the rest of the country, the people use various ways to avoid run-ins with the government but still play their casino games. So what exactly do these smart casino players do?
Norwegian players either use the state-run online casinos or use overseas websites which offer a variety of games with no strict government censorship. While not all foreign online casinos are accessible to Norwegians, there are several that accept them and also allow deposits in the Norwegian Kroner (NOK).
Deposit money on online casino in Norway
Norwegians have the leeway to play offshore online new casinos which means that their ability to deposit and withdraw money from such sites is key. Real deposits on the gaming sites can be made in Norwegian Kroner through either a bank transfer or credit card. Nonetheless, it is also possible for a player to convert the currency into other foreign currencies including Euro, GBP and SEK.
The most common means of transaction in online casinos in Norway include credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, VISA, E-wallet such as PayPal and bitcoin. It is important to check which online casino you want to make payments to so as to select the most convenient methods of deposit. As a consideration, a player should prioritize playing on sites that allow multiple ways of depositing money since it is not only convenient but also easy to manage your finances.
Major Norway Online Casino Games and Bonuses
Online casinos in Norway whether operated by overseas operators or the state offers various games and benefits to players. The online casino games played in Norway include blackjack, roulette, poker (including several variants of poker), baccarat, and many more. In addition, there are several other slot games available for casino fanatics in Norway.
The casino sites offer different types of bonuses to their customers including no deposit bonus. The new online casino players will be given some initial small amount of money that they can use to gamble even before they start making a deposit. Also, the sites have loyalty and rewards programs which can benefit the online casino players in Norway. As a way of endearing themselves to players, the online sites offer more rewards to those who play most.
Slot Machines in Norway
Slot machines have been present in Norway since the early 1990s. The turnover from the slot machines have over the years continued to rise reaching around NOK 26 billion in 2004. Charitable organizations have been certified to operate slot machines in Norway but there are no restrictions on private companies who choose to run the machines on behalf of such organizations at shared profits.
At one time, slot machines were accused of being the source of gambling problems in Norway leading to the stop of their operations in 2007. However, they were re-introduced in 2009 under Norsk Tipping.
Legally Gamble in Norway
The restrictive legal environment in Norway limits the number of land based casinos. However, an enthusiastic player can still find real money games online. The only thing is that the casinos are limited to the state owned Norsk Tipping website or licensed offshore online casino.Either way, you will still be able to continue with your gambling while in Norway.
