Online gambling is a popular activity in Sweden. Yet, the laws surrounding gambling in the country continue to be strict. While the legality of gaming at casinos without a Swedish license is questionable, players actively seek out such sites for their gambling needs. There are several reasons why Swedes are taking the chance and gamble on foreign sites. Let’s take a closer look.
Online gambling regulations in Sweden
Online gambling is not encouraged at all by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA). Only online casinos with valid Swedish licenses are allowed to promote themselves and accept Swedish players. Foreign casino sites or casinon utan svensk licens are prohibited from advertising themselves to the country’s residents.
The SGA aims to prevent gambling addiction issues and promote safe gaming practices across the country with the regulations. Since foreign casinos operate outside the country, the laws of Sweden do not apply to them. Therefore, despite the regulations, casinos with Swedish licenses continue to flourish.
Spelpaus program
Throughout the years, the SGA has introduced several such ideas to reduce the impact of online casinos in Sweden. Recently, the SGA introduced the spelpaus scheme for online gamblers. The program aims to encourage existing players to exclude themselves from online gambling. Once players sign up for the program, they will be removed from online casinos. Moreover, they will not receive promotional offers from casino sites that might influence them to restart gambling.
Why Swedes are going the extra mile to play on unlicensed online casinos
Swedish gambling sites typically provide a good player experience. Yet, Swedish players prefer foreign casinos with EU-based licenses. Players use strong VPN services to access blocked foreign casinos and play games. It is because unlicensed online casinos have many more benefits than licensed ones, such as the following.
- Better bonuses
- Wider game range
- Safe and convenient
- Easy payments
- Higher payment limits
Better bonuses
The top reason why players prefer foreign casinos is that they offer loads of bonuses. Some sites have over a dozen bonus offers that casino gamers and sports bettors can enjoy. Moreover, several sites have VIP schemes that generate attractive rewards for loyal players. Due to regulations, such promotional offers are unavailable on Swedish casino sites. The following are some of the best bonuses Swedish players avail of in unlicensed casinos.
- Welcome bonus- for new players making their first deposit on a casino site
- Free spins- usable on slot games to increase stakes without risking real money
- Cashback- calculated based on the net losses each day or week
- Free bet- To place sports bets for real rewards without risking real cash
- Reload bonus- for subsequent deposits made on the site
Wider game range
There are thousands of games to try out on foreign casino sites. Each game is developed by top game studios like Pragmatic Play, Evolution Gaming, NetEnt, Spinomenal and Thunderkick. Players can enjoy games across various categories like slots, jackpots, table games, live dealer games, and more. To make things even better, some platforms host tournaments with huge prize pools for better winnings. Some sites also enable live sports betting.
Safe and convenient
The key reason why the SGA is curbing gambling activities is to prevent gambling addiction and scams. However, reputed foreign casinos are licensed by EU-based authorities. It includes the authorities of Estonia, Curacao, Malta, and so on. They ensure that the casinos they license do not participate in fraudulent activities. Furthermore, they promote responsible gambling, thereby protecting players’ mental health and well-being.
Signing up and making payments on unlicensed casino sites is also convenient due to the low restrictions. With the introduction of the Pay N Play concept, registration, deposits and payouts only take a few minutes. Such convenience is promised only on top foreign casino platforms.
Easy payments
Making deposits and withdrawals is easy on foreign casino sites. Due to heavy restrictions, payments are typically delayed on Swedish casino platforms. On an unlicensed online casino, players can choose from various easy payment options. It includes VISA, Mastercard, MuchBetter, Skrill, and so on. Moreover, some platforms enable cryptocurrency payments.
Several casino sites enable payments through Trustly and Zimpler to enhance the convenience for Swedish players. In fact, Pay N Play casinos are highly popular among players from Scandinavia since they allow fast transactions and verification with Trustly.
Higher payment limits
High rollers have a clear reason to choose foreign casinos over Swedish ones. The latter has strict deposit and withdrawal limits, making it difficult to play with larger stakes. High rollers love pacing big bets and taking huge risks, which is not possible in this situation. Top foreign casino sites have considerably higher payment limits, making it easy to play with a lot of money. Some sites keep expanding the players’ payment limits as they become top players. In case a player is worried about the money they are spending, they can reach out to the customer support team, who will lower the limits if required.
To sum up, only Swedish casino sites are legally allowed to enable gambling for Swedes. However, the advantages and rewards that top foreign casinos offer make them more attractive to players. Currently, the popularity of unlicensed sites is predicted to keep growing.
