Whether you’re making your way through Europe looking for places to play online poker or casino games online you have come across the right resource. Similar to the laws in America, countries across Europe have also passed bills that prohibit online gambling sites or at the very least require companies to have proper licenses before they’re allowed to offer real money play to its citizens.
At 4Flush.com we hope to make the process of finding legitimate and licensed options for players visiting our site from Europe and abroad. This page will be updated constantly until we have a complete list of European countries that have LEGAL online gaming options for its users, along with reviews for trusted sites and easy deposit options for each.
European Countries Offering Online Gaming
Changes are underway when it comes to whether or not online poker and casino games are legal in Europe. The European Union has approved play at internet based casino sites so long as those sites are licensed within the Union. However, some individual European countries aren’t exactly jumping for joy at these laws, and continue to resist.
In this article we’ll look at different areas throughout Europe, and the legalities of both land based gambling, as well as online casino and poker sites in both areas. The following casino pages will walk you through the legalities of playing poker in each of the below European Countries, both online, and on land.
Finland Gambling Sites
The poker market in Finland is highly regulated, however, if players in the country are playing at poker sites that are licensed within the European Union they’re able to play without paying any tax on their winnings.
There are two casinos in Finland that offer live poker games, and a handful of online poker sites that are licensed within the European Union and therefore offering tax-free play. 4Flush will list as many applicable and LEGITIMATE online gambling options for Finnish players visiting our site so check back often on our pages below to see what is available.
Swedish Gambling Sites
There are 4 casinos in total located in Sweden, each of which is run by the Swedish Government. Poker players looking to play online poker in Sweden have the opportunity to do so tax free, as long as they’re playing at an Government approved poker site that is licensed within the European Union.
Sweden is known for being very strict when it comes to gambling laws, and will force poker players to disclose their previous play, eWallet records, and any other details that pertain to playing online at unauthorized sites.
France Gambling Sites
France has passed laws that legalize and regulate and tax the game of poker. Poker sites that cater to French poker players are required to operate on a .fr domain, and obtain a local gaming license. In addition, the poker sites themselves must pay tax on all poker games played on these domains.
We will review the online properties of all legal French poker sites and internet poker sites. For the time being PokerStars.fr is one of the best recommendations for poker players in France.
Russian Gambling
It seems the law isn’t getting any easier for Russian citizens either. Russian Government officials have recently ordered internet service providers to block customers access to poker sites, casino sites, and all gambling sites such as this one. This follows a 2011 ban on gambling that shut down every single casino in the country all in a day. The companies have thus far refused, claiming that current law does not require them to do so, and that making the changes would not be free.
Other changes to the Russian gambling legal climate include the introduction and development of four gambling zones located within the country.
Norway Gaming
The government of Norway allows its citizens to gamble online provided that the room itself has a license within the country. The country adopted similar laws comparable to the USA’s UIGEA bill that passed in 2006, effectively limiting which companies could market to its citizens. Regardless, the Norwegian people continue to still play online despite the attempts of the government to regulate the banking system and how they handle deposits onto such gambling sites.
Northern Ireland Gambling
Northern Ireland still has the world as her playground when it comes to playing slot and poker games online. However, when it comes to live poker games, residents of NI find themselves travelling to nearby Dublin in Ireland for casino gaming action. The laws in Northern Ireland are changing as we speak, but thus far, they seem to be becoming more stringent rather than relaxed. The way it stands, Norther Irelands residents really need the legislature to at the very least declare poker a skill-game so that at least that game can be brought back to the countries list of entertainment options.
Online Poker’s Rise In Europe
Ever since Chris Moneymaker, a then relatively unknown newcomer, won the 2003 World Series of Poker Main Event via a PokerStars satellite qualifier, online poker has been on the rise all over the world – and Europe was no different in this regard. To put it simply, poker finally left the cigarette smoke-filled basements and clubs of the days past and became a mainstream thing – a fashionable game to play.
Thousands of players suddenly recognized the fact that poker isn’t all about luck and bluffing and that with rigorous training anyone can become a poker pro. Many of those players have been able to make a living playing on Euro-friendly poker sites, while many times more have won hours upon hours of quality entertainment by simply enjoying the game in a recreational manner.
Today, the situation is no different even though some countries like Germany, Spain or Denmark, who have regulated their poker markets and settled for closed player pools. If you’re looking for an easy way to enter the wonderful world of online poker, you couldn’t have come to a better place, as I’ve got all the premium rooms and bonuses to set you up for a satisfying and rewarding poker experience.
When discussing online poker, it’s important to remember that it’s quite far from being a monolithic game, as countless variations and formats are available on quality sites like Ignition, PokerStars, 888 and Titan among others. This means that whether you enjoy playing one on one or competing in massive tournaments with hundreds of players signing up, you’re more than likely to find something to like at sites like these. However, it’s important to note that sites like Ignition are open to players in the United States only, while the other sites have closed off USA registrations for YEARS ever since the UIGEA’s passing in the mid-2000’s.
Texas Holdem’s Grip on European Players
The most popular poker game is of course Texas Hold’em – the variant that made online poker rooms so successful and wildly popular in the first place. Even when playing high stakes, finding competition isn’t really hard and the game comes in countless shapes and forms – short-handed, full ring, heads-up, single table tournaments including the most popular Sit & Go and Double or Nothing formats, as well as multi table tournaments with the top players receiving the lion’s share of the buy-ins paid by the contenders.
The game can be played in no limit version – which means that all the players can bet as much as they want – or with a limit, which caps the amount of money or chips that can go into the pot in each betting round. In all honesty, learning all the specific variations of the game is way more complicated than actually picking up the basic rules – but in the end, this allows players to specialize in a niche they like the most and helps them in optimizing their profits. Other popular poker games available in European poker rooms include Omaha, Seven Card Stud and Chinese Poker – but if you want to dig even deeper, the rule of the thumb is “if it exists, you can play it online.”