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Best Poker Sites in Finland 2024
One of the northernmost countries in Europe, Finland is the eighth-biggest in the region, with a population of over 5.5 million. The country is known to be one of the happiest on the planet according to the UN's annual World Happiness Report due to its high level of economic development, great freedom of choice, low perceived corruption, and other aspects. When it comes to gambling, Finland poker players do not lack options as both land-based and online poker in Finland are legal. Read on to discover the best poker sites with top rakeback, MTTs, and pleasant promotions.
Best online poker sites for Finland players
Finland’s gambling regulation takes quite a liberal approach to controlling online platforms, which is why poker enthusiasts of the country have a lot of options to choose from. Almost every large website you can think of accepts Finns, with some of them even offering Finnish localization.
| Rank | Poker Site | Deposit Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GGpoker | up to $600 |
| 2 | PPPoker | up to 50% rakeback |
| 3 | Pokerking | up to $2000 |
| 5 | Guts poker | up to $1000 |
GGPoker
GGPoker is one of the biggest online poker rooms with over 100,000 active players on a daily basis. The 100% welcome bonus of $600 will be paid out in $5 for every $20 rake. Speaking of rakeback, it can reach 60% for the members of the VIP program. The platform is an official WSOP partner and holds multiple events every day. Here, you can participate in hundreds of Hold’em, Omaha, and Shortdeck MTTs. Use a convenient banking system to withdraw winnings with only $1 of cashout commission. The poker room features a localized website in Finnish language.
Guts Poker
Finnish grinders are welcome to iPoker Network and enjoy a unique registration bonus of €1,000 and rakeback up to 30% via the VIP program. Guts holds several licenses guaranteeing a safe operation with cash games up to 1k€, Spin&Go, and MTTs. After signing up with Worldpokerdeals you will be automatically registered in two unique promotions: monthly rake race and race chase.
PokerKing
PokerKing (Winning Poker Network) is the most reliable US-friendly network hosting cash games up to NL/PLO5k, fast-fold poker, exotic games such as Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud, Spin&Go, SnG, and MTTs with millionaire guarantees. Finnish grinders can register via Worldpokerdeals to take advantage of a unique rakeback deal, a massive welcome bonus of up to $2,000, and weekly rake races. We highlight the crypto-friendly cashier of this site.
How to choose the best online poker site in Finland?
With such a wide array of options, it might be quite challenging to choose a single one. While making a choice you should consider the following aspects as the most important for poker websites:
- Quality of the software and usability of the interface.
- Selection of poker games. Availability of multiple types of poker games like Omaha, Texas Hold’em, Short Deck, All-in or Fold, etc.
- Tournaments and regular events. High GTD rates and availability of MTTs with different buy-ins.
- The convenience of the banking system. The platform has to offer every common payment method as well as low transaction fees.
- The overall safety of the site. A license from a respective authority proves that it provides the services legally, while decent SSL encryption keeps your personal data secure.
Online poker in Finland
Finland is one of the top 10 biggest gambling nations in the world, and the casino industry in the country continues to develop. The World Financial Review estimated that it grew by over 10% from 2020 to 2021. In fact, statistics show that 40% of the gambling industry has moved to the virtual space. The main reason for this is the absence of strict regulation and no banning of offshore online platforms.
However, it is important to note that only Veikkaus Oy (a state-owned operator that before 2017 was represented by RAY, Fintoto, and Veikkaus, entities responsible for casinos, horse race betting, and lottery activities respectively) can legally organize gambling activities within the country. When it comes to the Åland Islands, the autonomous region of Finland, the monopoly there belongs to the PAF operator, which is also owned by the state.
Despite online poker officially being the most popular card game in the country, Finns can enjoy regular offline tournaments only in 2 casinos: Grand Casino Helsinki and Arkipalego. Veikkaus Oy operator also does not capitalize on the opportunity of running a legit poker site in Finland. Thus, the only way of playing the game online is using the services of offshore websites, registered in foreign countries.
Finland legal poker background
According to the Lottery Act 491/65 from 1966, card and dice games can be played in Finland. The same document gives Veikkaus Oy, a state-owned operator, a monopoly over all types of gambling activities in the country. Finns still can use online services from foreign operators, but the opportunity seems to be slipping away as the government continues to toughen the regulations.
The new Finnish Lottery Act that came into action at the beginning of 2022 gave financial institutions the right to block transactions to and from unlicensed internet operators. Moreover, it banned the majority of types of advertisement in the industry even for licensed operators. This causes some issues because Finland, as a member of the European Union, has to provide other EU gambling companies access to its market. The main reason it still manages to escape those regulations is the non-profitable status of all gambling activities within Finland. The revenue from the industry funds multiple social services in the country.
Available deposit and withdrawal methods
By joining any of the licensed internet rooms or offshore poker sites, Finns will not find any trouble making deposits and withdrawals. It is safe to say that the country's main payment options are:
- Bank cards: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Maestro;
- E-wallets: Skrill, Neteller, ecoPayz, etc.;
- Cryptocurrency.
Taxes
Online poker winnings in Finland are 100% free of tax as long as they come from companies registered in the European Economic Area (EEA). When it comes to earnings from unlicensed poker sites, there is no clear information on taxation, but it is quite likely that there is also none, except for really big sums.
Best Finland poker players
As of 2022, the list of professional Finland poker players contains 20 grinders with over 1M of total live winnings. With over $12M in the live poker circuit and 51st place in the All-Time Money list as his best rank, Patrik Antonius ($12M) leads the list. His performance at Full Tilt Poker games against Isildur1 made him famous to the world poker community. Other Finnish players with stunning all-time winnings:
- Juha Helppi ($7.9M);
- Joni Jouhkimainen ($4.6M);
- Kimmo Matias Kurko ($3.1M);
- Jani Sointula ($2.9M);
- Jens Kyllönen ($2.8M).
It is also essential to mention “€urop€an”, “emeriaa”, Olli “jarildur1” Ikonen, and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, who are the most iconic online poker players from Finland. In total, pros from Finland have conquered 3 WSOP golden bracelets.
Summary
Poker is legal in Finland both in land-based facilities and online rooms but the monopoly over providing it belongs to the state-owned operator, Veikkaus Oy. Finns still can freely join platforms registered offshore, but some local payment methods can be restricted. Find the best website from the list we provide in the article to get the top-notch online poker experience.
Finland is a great market for the development of the internet poker industry due to the high popularity of the activity among the population and the absence of taxation.
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FAQ
Now let's summarize the most common questions about playing online poker in Finland:
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