Sweden To Allow Players To Join International Poker Pools From 2019

The online poker market in Sweden is expected to receive a major boost from Jan 2019 as new gaming laws come into effect.

This is also great news for online poker players in the country as they will no longer be restricted to playing against each other as the new laws will allow them to compete with international markets.

All this has come about due to a new bill entitled ‘Re-Regulation of the Gambling Market’ which was passed last month by the legislators in Sweden after the bill received a massive vote of confidence with a 282-19 vote. The bill will come into effect from Jan 1, 2019.

The bill makes a number of changes to gambling laws in the country but the biggest change without a doubt is the removal of Svenska Spel’s monopoly over the gambling industry.

Svenska Spel is the biggest gaming operator in Sweden and is state owned. The organization will no longer have a monopoly over the market from Jan 1, 2019 as Sweden will now welcome international gaming operators.

Sweden will accept applications for gaming licenses from international providers who will have to meet a number of criteria to secure a gaming license. The new laws also provide additional protection to Swedish players to protect them from being manipulated by unscrupulous operators.

Online Poker To Thrive In Sweden

The existing law did not allow for international online poker operators to offer services in Sweden. This meant that Swedish online poker players had limited options when it came to online poker rooms and the market was also small. As a result, the number of events, prize money and competition was limited – which did not make things very interesting.

That will change significantly once international operators launch online poker services in the Alpine nation. Swedish poker players will also be able to improve their gameplay as they get to play again poker players from different countries thanks to the new gaming laws. Online poker operators in Sweden will have to pay an 18 percent tax on gross gaming revenues.

Online operators will also have to strictly comply with the new gaming regulations. They will only be allowed to offer one welcome bonus and not be permitted to give away free bonuses. The Swedish Gambling Authority will also instruct ISP providers to display warnings whenever players access an unlicensed online poker website.