It turns out that there are multiple reasons for this, and all of them played a role in making poker not only a popular pastime but even a part of internet culture in Norway. Let's take a closer look and find out what attracts Norwegians to online poker and what conditions players face?
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Many strict restrictions for poker players
Poker and other gambling games are popularized by the absence of restrictions and advertising. In many countries, gambling is somewhat of a persona non-grata. Governments impose huge restrictions on gambling organizers, and in some places, casinos, sports betting, or online poker are outright banned.
Norwegian laws are strict on lotteries, gambling, and casinos, but the status of online poker is very difficult to interpret and is in such a gray area that both local players and legal experts consider it one of the worst-regulated sectors in the Norwegian economy.
According to the law, gambling is only allowed in informal settings where it is not turned into a business or an attempt to profit. To organize gambling, a license is required, but obtaining such a license in Norway is unrealistic. Only two companies have it, offering lottery tickets, sports betting, and other gambling. These are Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto. However, if a legal entity is registered abroad, no license is needed, although it is impossible to transfer money directly to their accounts. Thus, poker rooms, whether Unibet, Betsson, BetWay, Betsafe, or others, are not illegal, but playing in them is not straightforward.
Norwegian laws in this regard are considered strict. If you enter the text Online Poker in Norway into Google, you would get not one, not two, but several dozen unique links to gambling organizers and poker room websites. Despite such restrictions, poker in Norway is insanely popular and attracts thousands of men and women. Looking at the statistics, it can be said that Norwegians are quite successful at playing poker.
Moreover, there are websites like http://www.norskepokersider.com/, where you can find reviews, interesting articles, and exclusive discount codes. This is an important detail that allows seeing a thriving community of players and enthusiasts in this country.
Famous professionals from Norway
As we mentioned, the population in this country is not very large, but Norwegians are quite successful in poker. The success of the biggest winners helps to popularize this game among people and increase its recognition at the national level. The most successful Norwegian poker players are:
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Ola Amundsgaard Ola Amundsgaard – a player famous at high-limit tables online, generating almost 4 million dollars in profit over ~7 years of online play. Playing in PokerStars and Full Tilt online rooms, he became one of the most successful players in the world. According to High Stakes Database, Odd_Oddsen is among the top 40 players who have earned the most from online poker. Moreover, he contributed to the popularization of poker in the country and helped stop the Norwegian parliament's initiative to ban this game. How did he do it? He challenged a representative of one of the parliament parties to a duel and simply crushed him, showing that poker is not a coincidence but a science and a system.
- Thor Hansen – a true legend of poker and gambling. This man played poker for more than three decades and won over 3 million US dollars in various games during that time. During his career, T. Hansen received two WSOP series bracelets.
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Annette Obrestad Felix Vincent Stephenson – the highest-earning and probably the most famous poker player from this country, F.V. Stephenson became famous for almost winning the 2014 WSOP tournament. The majority of his career earnings of 5.8 million USD were won at the 2014 event.
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Annette Obrestad – definitely the most famous Norwegian woman playing poker and probably the most famous female poker professional in the world. Starting to play online gambling at just 15, she became the youngest WSOP bracelet holder of all time before turning twenty and took home ~2 million dollars from the tournament. Having outplayed many male players, A. Obrestad continues to successfully participate in various tournaments.
Legal nuances – difficult to understand everything
Norwegian laws are quite strange, at least concerning gambling organizers. Professional poker players from Norway often re-register in the United Kingdom or the USA for a more convenient tax system.
In Norway, poker can be classified as a business or a hobby. However, the funny thing is that if we classify poker as a hobby, the player still has to pay taxes on the income earned from tournaments (regardless of whether they had a profit at the end of the year). Taxes must be paid on income, which is why semi-pro and high-level players avoid registering in Norway. Even if you win a tournament in a foreign country, the Norwegian tax office requires you to report such income in your declarations. For businesses and commercial activities, quite high taxes are applied, so it simply does not pay off.
The situation is also complicated by restrictions on banks and financial institutions transferring money held in Norwegian citizens' accounts to gambling organizers 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 electronic wallets (Skrill, Neteller), but still – many additional troubles arise. Since there is a state gambling monopoly in Norway, gambling or just poker-loving players have to use VPNs or other tools to play undisturbed in the most popular gambling rooms online.
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What awaits in the future?
It seems that the laws have slightly loosened and are preparing to loosen further. Although the conservative political wing is certainly not going to legalize everything and open Norway to online poker gambling, with the increasing influence of technology, it is likely that it will simply become much easier to play online, unregulated by the government, so Norwegians will certainly not stop having fun or learning to play poker online.
Neighboring countries have very different approaches, so it is difficult to say which direction Norway will take. If the Swedish model is chosen, it is likely that more bans will not be lifted. If the Finnish model is chosen, then the bans will be lifted, and the market will be greatly liberalized, and if the Danish model is chosen, then some new model will be created to regulate the gambling market.
