Norwegian online casinos for Real Money

As touched on, Norway first legalised gambling in 1902. The bill that covers this is known as the Gaming Scheme Act. However, not every business is allowed to set up shop in Norway. Gambling in the Nordic nation is controlled and regulated by the state, with just two state-run monopolies ruling the roost.

The first of these is Norsk Tipping AS, and they have control over lotteries, instant win games such as scratch cards, sports betting, and online casino gambling. The second monopoly is Norsk Rikstoto, which runs harness horse racing. There are no land-based casinos in Norway, and the last of the slot halls was closed in 2007. You can find a few scattered video slot terminals around the country, but none in any greater number.

Online gambling is also legal in Norway. However, both monopolies have control over this, too. Norway doesn’t permit any business not associated with the monopolies the right to cater to Norwegians, and they do actively blacklist offshore sites. They also have other measures in place.

It is at about this time in the proceedings that we’d say that Norway is breaking EU law. If Norway was a full member of the European Union, it certainly would be. However, Norway isn’t a member of the EU, but of the EEA. Therefore, the rules and regulations surrounding online gambling are not as clear-cut for Norway as they would be for a typical full EU member.

Officially, the Norwegian Gambling and Foundation Authority (known as Lottstift) licenses Norwegian casinos and regulates them. However, these licenses are not open to private casino operators. Instead, they are the plaything of the two state-run monopolies, as mentioned above. It is possible to snap up a license if you’re offering gambling games for charitable or humanitarian purposes, but there aren’t many takers for these. Cruise ships are also allowed to bypass Norway’s gambling laws and offer services. However, none can offer online gambling games. Since 2020, there has been a separate license for bingo sites, but again, these are only open to non-profit organisations.

If Norwegians want to play at any betting sites that aren’t run by the state monopolies, they are going to need to look to offshore casinos. The trouble with this is that offshore sites are blacklisted, and the 2010 Payment Act makes it illegal for Norwegian banks to process gambling transactions at any sites save for the two monopolies. There are other payment options at their disposal, though. While playing in this manner is technically illegal, Norwegians aren’t punished for doing so, and it is thought that up to 10% of the population chooses to gamble at offshore casinos.

Norwegians don’t really have a preference when it comes to gambling games. It is true that Norwegians do love to bet on sports and are partial to a bit of slot action – indeed, some of the major jackpot wins on slots have occurred on Norway’s state monopoly sites.

Norway’s two monopolies don’t just support local software and games. They have agreements with many of today’s most established providers. This is particularly true of the major Scandinavian providers, such as NetEnt, Yggdrasil Gaming, Play ‘n Go and others. Oddly enough, most of the major Scandinavian software developers tend to come from neighbouring Sweden, with precious few coming from Norway itself.

Norway’s two state-operated monopolies only accept players from the country – or, at least, they are supposed to only accept Norwegian players. There have been cases where Swedes and Danes have snuck in.

For offshore Norwegian casinos, it is a different matter entirely. These betting sites actively accept players from Norway and other countries. If they want to appeal to Norwegians specifically, they will typically support the NOK currency and provide gameplay in Norwegian. While there is a KYC process at these trusted sites, too, it is not as invasive or as thorough as the state-run Norwegian casinos.

We should stress that while we don’t encourage Norwegians to play at offshore sites, we do understand where they are coming from. There is a distinct lack of options with the national monopolies, so again, while we don’t condone it, we do see why offshore Norwegian casinos can easily prove alluring to players in the Scandinavian country.