Online Casinos in Sweden

Online Casinos in Sweden

Online casinos in Sweden are one of the most popular forms of entertainment. As in most European countries, digital technologies and security in Sweden are highly developed, and all national online gambling offerings are strictly regulated by a single operator. If you're exploring offers beyond the local market, it's worth checking out Betser Casino bonuses and promotions for additional value and variety.

To play on Swedish websites, users must provide personal information during registration, including their social security number and bank account number. A required step during registration is also setting a weekly spending limit for online gambling, valid for seven calendar days.

These detailed procedures help tailor individual offers to each user and are also used to generate reports that the operator uses to pay taxes to the state. It’s worth noting that this high level of government oversight encourages a monopolized market: the state only needs to supervise one operator. This effectively eliminates tax evasion and other shady practices by gambling service providers.

However, it is impossible to fully block Swedish citizens’ access to foreign online casinos. Online gambling is legal in Sweden, so there’s no basis for banning European virtual casinos. As a result, businesses with Maltese or British licenses claim about 47% of Sweden’s gambling market. Among European online casinos, the most popular in Sweden include:

  • Unibet

  • Betsson

  • CasinoEuro

  • Expekt and many others.

Efforts to Limit the Influence of Foreign Casinos

Despite the inevitable presence of foreign operators in Sweden’s gambling market, the government has been trying to reduce their influence since 2015. On March 30, 2015, the Ministry of Finance released the results of a statistical analysis on gambling advertising in Sweden.

Swedish legislation opposed any marketing strategies promoting foreign gambling providers within the country. The restriction applied only to those providers that hadn’t obtained a Swedish license allowing them to legally operate in the country.

At first glance, this limitation seems reasonable – the state wants to keep players’ money within its own economy. On the other hand, obtaining a Swedish license is practically impossible. Since 1999, no company other than Svenska Spel has been granted one. So the advertising ban effectively applies to all European online casinos.

However, this legislative move sparked protest among EU member states, as it violated certain EU laws. The actions of the Swedish government were seen as discriminatory toward foreign companies, prompting EU members to file a complaint with the European Commission’s competition authority.

The Biggest Casino Wins in Sweden

Player trust in the monopoly Svenska Spel is built not only on the lack of alternatives. Swedish casinos—both land-based and online—occasionally delight players with large wins. These big wins often motivate others to test their luck.

The largest win in a physical Swedish casino was over EUR 3.7 million. In 2012, a woman at Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm hit the jackpot while playing alone after her husband briefly stepped away. Before that, the biggest prize in a Cosmopol casino was EUR 1.68 million.

The largest win in an online casino was EUR 7.6 million. More recently, a young player from Stockholm won EUR 4.1 million shortly after registering and depositing less than EUR 50.

Online casinos tend to offer bigger prizes and more convenience than physical venues. So it’s no surprise that Swedes prefer playing online, while the state tries to keep the virtual gambling market under its monopoly. This simplifies regulation and ensures significant tax income. Most likely, these considerations have led to ongoing conflicts between Sweden and the EU over the gambling sector.

Future of the Gambling Industry

Today, Sweden’s gambling market remains controversial and poised for change. Following the EU’s complaint to the antitrust committee in November 2015, the situation has not yet been fully resolved. Anitra Steen, a representative of the monopoly company Svenska Spel, insists that Sweden’s gambling laws comply with EU regulations and that the legal review confirmed this. Steen also claims that the complaints came from illegal companies whose operations are not authorized in Sweden.

However, the European Gaming and Betting Association strongly disagrees. While Sweden’s legal framework appears EU-compliant on paper, the actual gambling setup contradicts international standards.

The legal market is monopolized, and despite the theoretical availability of licenses, no company other than Svenska Spel has received one. The association represents legal operators holding Maltese and UK licenses, so branding them as “illegal” is misleading.

The ongoing conflict surrounding foreign online casinos keeps the market tense. Swedish authorities argue that advertising should be banned, even though no law explicitly prohibits the operation of foreign online casinos. EU representatives believe that restricting advertising is a direct barrier to doing business in Sweden. It hampers industry growth and deters investment.

As a result of these marketing limitations, foreign companies are struggling to attract new users. This could eventually push European operators out of the Swedish market, which would be detrimental to both Sweden and the companies trying to work within its borders.