Finnish government keeps retail gambling machines under current rules
A Finnish political working group decided to retain the current rules for gambling machines in shops and hospitality venues, despite researchers’ concerns about gambling harm. A separate market reform is due to open online casino and sports betting to licensed foreign operators from 2027, while Veikkaus retains exclusive rights to Lotto and physical machines.
The decision preserves retail machine distribution as Finland prepares to open parts of its online gambling market to competition.