Finland is set to become the second Nordic country to have their own government owned online poker site, when Raha- automaattiyhdistys (RAY) start their online casino and poker in the near future. RAY's online service was due to start on August 27th but because of some last-minute legislative changes the starting date has been postponed until October.


After receiving the last-minute instructions concerning various points on game security and player protection, the software provider Playtech said they will need approximately six more weeks to make the necessary changes.

Many Finnish players have expressed fears that when RAY's poker starts, government may try to set up legislation that would make it more difficult for Finnish players to access foreign online poker rooms. However, so far no laws or regulations of this kind have been proposed. RAY poker will be accessible only to Finnish players.

Only three government owned gambling operators are licensed to operate in Finland. Apart from slot machines and the upcoming online casino and poker, RAY runs the only live casino in the country, the Grand Casino Helsinki. Veikkaus has control over lotteries and sports betting while Fintoto runs horse betting.

Sweden was the first Nordic country to start their own online poker. Svenska Spel's poker, open only to Swedish players, is currently the 13th largest online poker room with a 7-day player average of 860 in the Pokerscout ranking.