Online poker in Norway - Overview

It turns out that there are a number of reasons for this, all of which have played their part in making poker not only a popular pastime, but even a part of the online culture in Norway. Let's take a closer look and find out what is it about online poker that attracts Norwegians so much and what are the conditions for players?

The best poker rooms online:

Many strict restrictions on poker players

Poker and other games of chance are popularised by the lack of restrictions and advertising. In a number of countries, gambling is a kind of persona non-grata. The government imposes huge restrictions on gambling operators, and in some places casinos, sports betting and online poker are banned altogether.

Norwegian law is strict on lotteries, gambling and casinos, but the status of online poker is altogether very difficult to interpret and in such a grey area that both local players and legal experts consider it one of the most poorly organised spheres in the Norwegian economy.

By law, gambling can only be played in informal settings where it is not a business or an attempt to make a profit. Gambling requires a licence, but it is not realistic to obtain one in Norway. Only two companies offer lottery tickets, sports betting and other gambling. These are Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto. However, if the legal entity is registered abroad, no licence is required, although it is not possible to transfer money directly to their accounts. So it follows that poker rooms - whether Unibet, Betsson, BetWay, Betsafe or others - are not illegal, but they are not normally allowed to be played.

Norwegian law is considered strict in this respect. If you type Online Poker in Norway into Google, you will get not one, not two, but dozens of unique links to websites of gambling operators and poker rooms. Despite such grudges, poker in Norway is wildly popular and attracts thousands of men and women. Looking at the statistics, Norwegians are not doing badly at poker.

In addition, there are pages such as http://www.norskepokersider.com/for reviews, interesting articles and exclusive discount codes. This is an important detail that allows us to see a thriving community of gamers and enthusiasts in this country.

Renowned professionals from Norway

As we have already mentioned, the population of this country is not that large, but the Norwegians are not doing too badly in poker. The success of the biggest winners is helping to make the game more popular among the people and to raise its profile nationally. The most successful poker players in Norway are:

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  Ola Amundsgaard - to high-limitsa gambler who is famous for his online tables, has generated almost $4 million in profits in ~7 years of online gambling. Playing on PokerStars and Full Tilt, he has become one of the most successful players in the world. High Stakes Database Odd_Oddsen is among the top 40 highest earners in online poker. He has also contributed to the popularisation of poker in the country and helped stop an initiative in the Norwegian parliament to ban the game. How did he do it? He challenged a member of a parliamentary party to a duel and simply smashed him, showing that poker is not a game of chance but a science and a system.

• Thor Hansen - A true poker and gambling legend. This man has been playing poker for more than three decades and has won more than USD 3 million in various games during that time. During his career, Hansen won two WSOP bracelets.

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  Felix Vincent Stephenson - The highest career earner and arguably the best-known poker player from this country, F.V. Stephenson rose to fame by almost winning the 2014 WSOP. The majority of his $5.8million winnings came in the form of the first-ever $6.5million. The Norwegian has earned the majority of his $8.5 million in career winnings at the 2014 WSOP event.

• Annette Obrestad - certainly Norway's most famous female poker player and perhaps the most famous female poker pro in the world. She started gambling online Playing at just 15, she was already the youngest ever WSOP bracelet holder before she was even 20, taking home ~$2 million. Obrestad, who has wiped the nose of more than one male player, continues to perform well in various tournaments.

Legal nuances - tricky to understand

Norwegian law is quite strange, at least for gambling operators. Professional poker players from Norway often move to the UK or the US for the more convenient tax system.

In Norway, poker can be treated as a business or as a hobby. However, the funny thing is that if we classify poker as a hobby, the player will still have to pay tax on the income he earned from tournaments (no matter that he may not have made a profit at the end of the year). The tax is payable on the income, which is why semi-pro and high-level players avoid registering in Norway. Because even if you win a tournament in a foreign country, the Norwegian tax office requires you to declare this income on your tax return. And business and commercial activities are taxed quite heavily, so it simply doesn't pay to do so.

The situation is further complicated by restrictions on banks and financial institutions transferring money held in Norwegian citizens' accounts to gambling operators registered abroad (sounds complicated, right?). If you try to use a Norwegian bank card or account, the deposit will simply be rejected. This restriction has been in place since 2010.

Of course, you can simply use e-wallets (Skrill, Neteller), but there are still a lot of additional hassles. As Norway has a thriving state monopoly on gambling, gamblers with a penchant for gambling or poker have to use VPNs or other tools to play online at the most popular gambling rooms without interference.

The best poker rooms online:

What lies ahead?

The law seems to have loosened up a bit and is about to loosen up some more. While the conservative political establishment is certainly not going to legalise everything and open up Norway to online poker gambling, with the growing influence of technology it is likely to simply become much easier to play online without government regulation, so Norwegians will certainly not stop having fun or learning how to play poker online.

The surrounding countries have very different approaches, so it is difficult to say which direction Norway will take. If the Swedish model is followed, it is likely that more bans will not be lifted. If the Finnish model, then the bans will be lifted and the market will become very free, and if the Danish model, then some new model will be created to regulate the gambling market.