The three European countries entered into a shared liquidity agreement on July 6 2017, but poker operators were only given liquidity sharing licenses in January 2018. The decision to share online poker resources has been successful so far for all the parties involved which was the main objective all along. Online poker legislation in Europe varies by state. In some countries (e.g UK) online poker is legal and tax-free. Germany, Switzerland) haven’t legalized it but make no effort to enforce the law or restrict access.

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Where should we begin when it comes to discussing the European online gambling market? The European market has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but also have led the way in the introduction of games, betting styles and platforms since the inception of the industry.

We are going to speak of the European market in general terms on this page; obviously, there are some significant differences in each individual country’s approach to online gambling.

For now, let’s review some of the essential common elements that anyone should be looking at when they are choosing an online gambling site to play from Europe.

Here Are Our Top Recommended European Online Gambling Sites:

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We review all the European-facing sites we can find, from the most established brands to the brightest of newcomers. Of course, every site is a little bit different, and many have restrictions depending on where you live. With that in mind, we encourage you to read our individual reviews to learn about each company in detail. To help you get started, we have compiled a list of our top 5 recommended European Gambling Sites above, which we are sure will offer you a fantastic experience.

There is no single answer to this question. With a region made up of so many different countries, it is not surprising to see that there are also various stances on online gambling. While the region is very advanced compared to North America regarding the legalities of online gambling sites, for many countries it is still a work in progress. In fact, the European gaming regulation map looks similar to that of the individual U.S. states.

In each of our individual country reports, you will get an in-depth review of that country’s regulatory environment. With the introduction of the European Union, it seemed like the collective wrote an onion about its stance on many topics, including gambling.

For the purposes of a general review let’s highlight a few in summary form:

The UK have long been operating in a regulated environment, and in fact, the Internet Gambling Act enforces the fact that to legally accept UK players, an online gambling website needs to apply for and receive a license from the Gambling Commission. This application process is rigorous, and the Gambling Commission does not look favorably at companies who have in the past accepted players from unregulated markets.

The Spanish Gambling Act was entered into law to help manage the federal oversight of regulated gambling, which was before that left up to the individual states. As a result of this legislation, operators can apply for a license that if received will allow them to legally accept Spanish players to gamble on all forms of online games.

The French also have a form of regulated online gambling, which allows licensed operators to allow sports betting, poker, and horse racing. Despite their love of card games, there is no option for obtaining a license to offer online casino games, so any operators who can provide those games in addition to poker and sports in other jurisdictions must shut them off for any players that come from France.

The Italian government looked to increase tax revenue and capitalize on the country’s love of soccer by introducing legislation to allow sports betting in the mid-2000s. This allowed anyone who acquired a license to take sports betting action either online or in a land-based retail environment. Amendments to that law over the years added other online betting options such as lottery, casino and poker and today Italians have a full range of products to select from when they are choosing an online gambling site.

Of course, all these regulations are regularly updated, so it is important that you review this page often to get the most up to date data and information. Also, even though there are a series of regulations limiting play of some or all games online depending on the country, there is no precedent for a player being prosecuted under these laws. While we cannot definitively tell you that online gambling is legal from a player perspective, it is safe to say that these governments have no current plan to curb the industry by going after every individual who bets online.

From an operator perspective, there are a few European jurisdictions where an online gambling site can get a license which will allow them to “legally” operate their companies. Of course, this license still has to mix with the individual European country laws, so this licensing actually exists as a way to protect players from shady operators stealing their money.

The four jurisdictions in Europe were an online gambling site can apply for a license are Alderney, Isle Of Man, Malta, and Gibraltar. A site does not need to acquire more than one license (although some have) and each location has its own individual benefits.

Fortunately for European players, the amount of regulation they find in the region opens the doors for all sorts of payment processing options. What this means for players is a choice to use debit and credit cards, third-party payments companies, and even Paypal to make their deposits and withdrawals.

What does this look like? Here is a partial list of third-party e-cash payments providers for the European market:

Some of these may not be available in your country, but there is no doubt that you will have heard of many of these and may even already have accounts with them, which will make your online gambling experience even easier!

Finally, when you are researching what online gambling site to play at, you should look to see if they offer games in your local currency. Most sites will offer games in Pounds or Euros, which covers a significant amount of people, however, if you are in a country with its own currency, we don’t want you to find yourself paying adverse exchange rates just to get the currency into your account. Our reviews of European-facing gambling sites outlines all the currencies that a site accepts.

Mobile Gambling in Europe

As we discussed, the European online gaming market is more mature than their North American counterparts.This is best seen in the way that Europeans gamble on their sports, especially soccer.

Allowing players to gamble from their mobile devices means that the tens of thousands of possible bettors sitting in any soccer stadium have the opportunity to place wagers on what they are watching in real time.

Online operators quickly built mobile-friendly platforms to accommodate this type of betting, and that quickly spread to all forms of sports betting. These days, European players can play all their favorite online games directly from their phones or tablets, including most casino games and poker. Each individual European country has their own laws in place, but many countries also allow for native apps to be downloaded to devices to enhance the quality of the player experience further.

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Finding the Best Promotions From European Gambling Sites

When you are looking for a European online gambling site, it’s important to take into consideration what types of promotions a site offers and to make sure that their offers fit your needs. If you are a sports bettor and most of a site’s promotions are free-spin-based, for example, then we wouldn’t recommend you make a deposit. The bonuses you receive at a site are part of the value proposition that will assist in making you a profitable player over the long run.

With so many different games being offered by the biggest online gambling sites, marketing departments for these companies are working overtime to make sure all their promotional offers are attractive to any player who comes along. On top of the free chip and free bet promotions designed to reward players for creating accounts without depositing, you should be looking for the best return on your initial deposits and any loyalty programs the site offers to extend your play.

Finally, with so many countries in play, many online gambling sites tailor some promotions to be localized for specific countries. For example, you may find a poker promotion that rewards players from France only to qualify for a local live tournament or sporting event; those types of promotions offer great value as the player pool is likely much smaller than for the site’s global promotions.

What About Customer Service for All These Customers?

Customer Service can be a minefield for many online gamblers. Getting through to a live person to speak with at the time you need them can be a frustrating process, which becomes even worse when you realize that the person with whom you are speaking does not speak your language. No amount of Google translate can help in these situations; it usually makes the process slow and painful.

Most of the large online gambling sites that offer games to Europeans also provide customer service in several languages. This is usually determined by the number of players from a given country that is in the site’s database. Sometimes this specialized customer service is only available during peak hours, but in a worst case scenario you will always be able to email the site with your issue, and you will most likely receive a response back in your language.

North American online gamblers have a significant amount of envy when they see all the options Europeans have for regulated, legal online gambling.

Add in some killer promotions, and it’s entirely clear that any European that has the ability to gamble online should be able to find exactly what they are looking for to suit their needs.

The poker scene in Norway is pretty bleak for Norwegians at present, largely because of the Governments anti-gambling stance throughout the country as well as the countries resistance to laws passed by the European Union.

Online Poker in Norway

Online poker is legal from within Norway only if the online poker site is a legally licensed Norwegian online poker room.

The government of Norway passed laws similar to the UIGEA in The United States that effect the poker industry within the country. The laws don’t directly affect the legality of online poker, but they do change the ways that banks in Norway are able to process transactions with online gambling establishments.

The goal here is to keep transactions from being processed in Norway and therefore hinder Norwegian poker players from getting their money onto poker sites. This could be because as a part of the European Union, gambling is legal in the country. Many countries in the union, such as Norway, and Northern Ireland for instance have passed local legislation that outlaws online poker play, which directly contradicts laws made by the EU.

Despite Norway’s gambling monopoly there are more than 30 sites offering online poker play to Norwegians. So while the government is doing everything it can to prevent online gambling in in the country, the people have thus far prevailed.

Live Poker Rooms in Norway

There used to be a number of poker halls and live poker rooms scattered throughout Norway. That was until 2013 when all forms of live poker were made illegal by the Norwegian Government. When the Norwegian police cracked down on casinos in Norway their mission was successful. After 2007 not a single Norwegian casino remained. However this has not forced the extinction of gamblers in Norway, the game of poker and hundreds of other casino games are still extremely popular among certain groups and parts of the country.

Because live poker is Illegal in Norway, a lot of poker fanatics go to Northern Ireland and to the United States to play in poker tournaments. There are even a few tournaments in Ireland that are only open to poker players from Norway.

Well-Known Poker Players

Annette Obrestad

The most well-known poker player from Norway is Annette Obrestad who really began to garner attention from the poker world when she at the tender (yet calculating) age of 18 became the only woman ever to take down a WSOP title when she won the World Series of Poker Europe. While she was at it, she also scooped up the record for becoming the ‘youngest player ever to win the WSOP’ at that same time. Believe it or not, Obrestad who’s known for her amazing mathematics skills is a high school drop-out. Back in 2007 she was considered one of the best poker players in the world.

Thor Hansen

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Thor Hansen has taken down two World Series of Poker events as well. His first bracelet was won back in 1998 playing seven card stud. In 2002 Hansen won his second bracelet playing deuce to seven lowball. Hansen began playing poker in the back room of his family’s store.

Andreas Høivold

Andreas Høivold was born in 1971 in Kristiansand, Norway. Growing up playing five card draw; Andreas took up playing No Limit Hold’em in 2003. Andreas decided it was time to play with the pros in 2006. Høivold became famous that year after placing third in the Poker Million V, winning a quarter million dollars. By 2008 his winnings amounted to more than a million dollars.

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Johnny Lodden

Johnny Lodden, born in 1985, made a name for himself by defeating some of the most renowned PokerStars on the internet. Lodden was screen name “Lars-Magne” on Poker starts; as well as “bad-ip” on Prima Networks. As of 2008 Johnny Lodden has won a total of $350,000. This includes an 11th place finish at the World Series of Poker Europe on October 2nd 2008 playing no-limit hold’em.

Top Norwegian Online Poker Sites

The following sites accept poker players from Norway. We’ve chosen sites that are the most popular among Norwegians, some of these sites accept deposits in Norwegian Kroners, and others allow actual play in Kroners however, some of these sites may simply allow Norwegian’s to play poker but only offer play in Euro’s Pounds or Dollars. Additionally, some but not all of the following poker sites offer either games, support, or both in Norsk, the official language of Norway.

• Power Poker
• Party Poker
• Titan Poker
• Poker Nordica
• BetSafe
• Betsonn

Norwegian Poker Deposit Options

Until recently, in Norway, you used to be able to use a credit card to deposit or withdraw money on an online gambling website. However recently the Norwegian government passed a law that made getting or receiving any money from a Norwegian gambling site is unlawful. They did so to reinforce their ban on online gambling. However some would disagree and say that it was an attempt to further their monopoly on the online gambling in Norway.

Mobile Poker in Norway

Despite there being legality issues with poker in Norway; there are several ways to gamble in Norway. One of those ways is Mobile poker. Mobile poker can be played on any phone or mobile device that is Java compatible. The following is a list of sites that offer mobile poker to Norwegian citizens:

• Party Poker

Major Poker Events

The most anticipated event for Norwegian poker is the Norwegian Championship of Poker 2013. This tournament is happening on March 16 through March 24^th. The series of tournaments is being held in Dublin Ireland but is only open to poker players who live in Norway. Players who want to participate in this tournament can sign up with PokerStars as long as their at least 18 years of age.

Sources:

http://www.pokerstars.com
http://www.theregister.co.uk