Finland's state-owned gambling operator, Veikkaus, has announced a new phased system designed to monitor and manage loss limits based on customer age. This initiative, revealed last week, includes age-specific loss checkpoints aimed at detecting and intervening when players approach potentially harmful gambling behavior.
The program includes various protective measures, among which are newly established loss checkpoints. Customers will receive notifications upon reaching preset cumulative loss thresholds within a year. In order to resume play beyond these checkpoints, players must consult with a Veikkaus specialist.
Loss checkpoints and annual loss limits vary by age:
– For those aged 18 to 19, the first checkpoint is set at €4,000, with an annual loss limit of €8,000.
– Players aged 20 to 24 will hit their first checkpoint at €8,000, with an annual limit of €24,000.
– Individuals aged 25 and older will have a first checkpoint of €24,000 but will face no annual loss limit.
These parameters are applicable across Veikkaus' gaming offerings but do not include slot machines and table games at Casino Helsinki, which are regulated under different conditions.
Veikkaus plans to improve its warning notifications and intends to continue making thousands of care calls each year to players identified as at-risk.
In the announcement, Susanna Saikkonen, Veikkaus’ director of sustainability, stated, “The customer’s situation is assessed according to a pre-agreed operating model. If the decision is made to continue playing, the next loss checkpoint can be agreed with the customer.”
Saikkonen articulated the company's commitment to enhance its responsible gambling approach. She stressed the importance of providing timely support to customers: “Our goal is to identify harmful gambling better than before using real-time data and provide customers with proactive care communications,” she explained. “Lower loss limits are set for young customers because their financial situation and life circumstances are often still developing and the risks associated with gambling can be greater.
“Lower limits are a preventive measure with which we want to support safe and controlled gambling and help young people monitor their own gambling and stop in time if necessary.”
As the Finnish gambling landscape gears up for the entry of private iGaming operators in July 2027, marking the end of Veikkaus' monopoly, the future of the regulator has been a topic of intense discussion. Industry consultant Jari Vähänen estimates that the entire business could reach a valuation of up to €4.5 billion ($5.24 billion) if sold, based on a 10x multiple of Veikkaus’ annual gaming surplus of €450 million. Vähänen projects that digital sectors like online casinos and sports betting could be worth between €1 billion and €1.5 billion, while remaining monopoly aspects, such as Lotto and gaming machines, could be valued around €3 billion.
In January, the Finnish parliament enacted changes in the gambling industry through its iGaming bill. Observers and Veikkaus have raised concerns regarding the potential for black market activities once new operators gain entry. Jarkko Nordlund, head of iCasino and sportsbook at Veikkaus, remarked, “There is no real mechanism for the black market to, for example, block payments, or whatever, for the ones operating outside the licensed system.”
