Gambling in Norway is strictly regulated, with only two state-owned companies permitted to offer gambling services such as betting on sports, including horse racing, and the national lottery. The absence of land-based casinos has led to a concerted effort by internet-based casinos to provide an authentic experience online.
Scandinavia is renowned for providing some of the best online slots in the iGaming world and some of the best developers are based in neighboring Sweden. This article provides a guide to what to look out for in Norwegian casino sites and the restrictions that new users could face when registering for an account.
A brief history of Norwegian gambling
Before taking a closer look at the requirements to play at online casinos, it is important to provide a quick overview of seminal moments in Norwegian gambling history. In 1927, the Totalisator Act was passed, which provided rights for the Norsk Rikstoto Foundation to offer horse-racing betting activities.
Little happened in the intervening years to 1992, when another important piece of legislation was introduced in the form of the Gaming Act. This named the state-owned Norsk Tipping AS as the sole legitimate operator for lottery and football betting. In 1995, the Lottery Act was passed, with more comprehensive guidelines on how lotteries and games of chance should be regulated.
Later, more radical measures were taken to curb gambling activities. In 2008, all gambling activities in traditional Norwegian casino sites were deemed illegal by the government. In 2009, Norsk Tipping introduced special cards that allowed only a few transactions per month via interactive video terminals, but since then, the government has been trying to clamp down on all casino activities.
Requirements of Norway casino sites
Despite Norway’s strict gambling regulations, there is no specific legislation regarding online gambling. With land-based casinos being illegal, online gaming is extremely popular, and mobile apps are available for both iPhone and Android users. However, there are a few hurdles to overcome for bettors on Norwegian casino sites, with new players usually needing to meet a list of criteria.
Players should bear in mind that it is illegal for Norwegian banks to transfer funds to foreign gaming companies and then to transfer this money to Norwegian bank accounts. However, Norwegian casino sites manage to get around this by offering solutions such as the facility to use Visa to make deposits.
In total, there are around 12 Norwegian casino sites as CasinoSpesialisten.net, that, in their games, use the Norwegian language and offer customer services in Norwegian, including the likes of Unibet, Betway and Betsson. All of them offer casino games, poker and betting, and make it easy for players to transfer money to their gambling accounts.
What else should Norwegian casino players know?
Many Norwegian players prefer to use e-wallets as a convenient method to fund their casino accounts. It is strictly enforced that all bettors that engage in casino activities must be at least 18 years old to play.
While cryptocurrency is a relatively new currency, several Norwegian online casinos accept bitcoin as a payment method, via Skrill. Mobile pay, however, isn’t as popular as other payment methods, and players will usually need to use third-party providers, such as Boku, to transfer deposits into their playing accounts.
