Europe is one of the most prominent destinations for jaunt gambling. Along with offline casino gambling, the online casino and sports betting scene has picked up massively since the last decade.

• Norway Online Gambling Regulation
• Norway Online Casino

Europe does not have one law or a single commission for all European countries, the European gambling market comprises of several nationally regulated jurisdictions.

Is Online Gambling Entirely Legal in Norway?

1. The organization supervises and regulates all kinds of gambling that are legally present in Norway up to date, including lotteries, slot machines, horse race betting and sports betting, raffles, bingo and lotteries, and online gambling.
2. Norway's gambling monopoly Norsk Tipping issued a report stating risky behavior dropped due to the suspension of certain forms of gambling during the nation's Covid-19 lockdown from March through September. Lotteries were the preferred type of gambling during the lockdown, but sports betting disappeared as leagues and competitions were suspended.
3. Most types of gambling are currently illegal on the territory of Norway. There are basically two companies, which have a governmental permission to offer gambling services to the country's citizens – Norsk Rikstoto and Norsk Tipping.
4. Norway Online Gambling Laws The online gambling situation in Norway appears much worse on paper than it is in reality. If you simply read the laws that are on the books, things look dire for Norwegian gamblers. There are two licensed betting sites in Norway and both feature poor odds, poor game selection, and are limited in overall functionality.

England, France, Switzerland, Latvia and many other countries have an easy-going attitude toward online and offline betting. Unfortunately, Norway is not one of them. Generally, online and offline gambling (including sports betting) is considered illegal in Norway.

The Norwegian government has asked credit and debit card companies to deny the transfer of funds between Norwegian citizens and online gaming operators, says a report by CardPlayer.

However, there is a silver lining for those willing to work with state-owned gambling companies. You must know the gambling laws and possible waging options in Norway if you want to sign-up with a Norwegian gambling website.

As for online gambling, then by law there are only two official sites on which Norwegians are allowed to play: Norsk Riskoto website allows you to bet on horse racing in Norway; Norsk Tipping website (KongKasino) offers lotteries, sports betting, online slots, poker, keno and scratch cards.

To answer this question, gambling is partially legal in Norway. Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are two companies that offer gambling services in Norway.

Both Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto are state-owned companies. The Ministry of Culture and Church affairs guides and regulates the operations or Norsk Tipping.

Also, there are several Norway casino online sites abroad. A Norwegian citizen may not own and operate an offshore gambling website, but they are designed keeping the Norwegian culture and rhetoric in mind. They provide the option to choose between Bokmal, Nynorsk, and Sami.

What Else Do I Need to Know About Gambling in Norway?

As I mentioned earlier, owning and operating a gambling website is punishable by law in Norway. A Norwegian citizen is not allowed to conduct any sort of gambling business. Although they are allowed to invite friends home if they are willing to participate in games and activities organized by the following two authorities:

• Norsk Tipping
• Norsk Rikstoto

Norsk Tipping offers poker, lotteries, sports betting, bingo, keno, and scratch card games. All participants have to be over 18 years of age to be able to enjoy the gambling services offered by Norsk Tipping. Norsk Rikstoto is the only company in Norway permitted to arrange horse race betting.

The good news is, you can sign-up with an offshore Norwegian gambling website. Although, you will have to find an alternative payment method to credit or debit card. I would suggest that you invest in a cryptocurrency and use it as a wager. There are several casino sites accepting cryptocurrencies for payment of the deposit.

Summary

Norway Online Gambling Regulation

Indeed, online and offline gambling on any privately-owned casino or a betting website is illegal in Norway. Also, the government passed a Payment Act in 2010, so no one can use their credit or debit card to gamble on offshore sites.

The truth of the matter is that people still gamble online on offshore sites using payment methods other than credit or debit cards. They are willing to risk getting caught by the cybersecurity officials in Norway.

30-second summary

• Norway has a monopolistic stance on online gambling
• Lawsuit filed for unfair restriction of trade
• How and why the NBO was formed

Norway’s online gambling stance

Norway’s government is accused of having a monopolistic stance when it comes to online gambling. There a couple of reasons: 1) It has shown very little interest in embracing change; 2) It have attempted to limit locals’ access to international gambling sites by restricting payment processing channels, prohibiting advertising, and even blocking unauthorized domains. These behaviors have led to a suit for “unfair restriction of trade” against the Norwegian Gaming Association (NGA) and Norway’s Ministry of Culture.

Kindred’s Norwegian subsidiary Trannel International” filed the lawsuit in December because the NGA convinced Apple to purge its betting app (and many others run by other firms) from the Norwegian App Store and for the aforementioned payment blocking. Now, several large-scale operators have created a new lobbying group calling for a more open and transparent gambling landscape in Norway.

Formation of the NBO

The Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gambling (NBO), as it has come to be known, is made up of European online gambling operators Kindred Group, Gaming Innovation Group (GiG), Cherry AB’s ComeOn brand, and Betsson.

Their core role will be to encourage Norway’s government to embrace a more liberalized regime that would allow applications for local licenses by the international online gambling operator community.

Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm has been announced as the secretary-general for the NBO. The chairman is Rolf Sims, a former Ministry of Culture veteran who helped craft Norway’s gambling policy and is currently the public affairs manager for Kindred.

Stenstrøm said: “The regulatory regimes in Denmark and (as of January 1) Sweden recognize that regulating ‘all the serious companies under one, responsible license model’ is the proper way to go.” He also explained that if his experiences have taught him anything, it is that such efforts to instill responsible gambling initiatives really isn’t of much use if the huge segment of the marketplace is ignored – a segment the government has no control over.

Norway Online Casino

Last August, the four founding companies of the NBO announced that a more open online gambling licensing system would offer greater regulatory oversight, increased control over problem gambling, and better value for the gambling customer. Their report, however, was immediately dismissed by the deputy director-general of the NGA, Henrik Nordal. They then went on to form the NBO, where the hope is to enlist other European Economic Area and European Union operators to change the direction of online gambling in Norway.