Norway's attitude toward online gambling and online casinos is that it has put its head in the sand. The policy they have implemented is that they prefer to keep that kind of activity under the control of its own government, which has endeavored to keep competitors out of the market.
In Norway, gambling is more or less a state business, which means that the government controls things. There are two companies, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, which are engaged in the business of offering gambling product online. Norsk Tipping takes care of sports betting and the lottery, while Norsk Rikstoto is involved in pari-mutuels. No one from outside of Norway is allowed to take part in any of these games at those sites. And they have been given the go-ahead to offer casino games, scratch cards and other products to Norwegian residents.
For about three years, Norway has had a law that effectively bans any transactions related to gambling on the part of Norwegian banks, if those transactions are with foreign operators or those operating from within Norway that are unlicensed. They have not gone so far as to block the addresses of those foreign gaming companies, which has, to some extent, enabled players in Norway to take part if they can get away with it. The European Free Trade Association has gone on record strongly opposing such a block.
The market in Norway has still not been opened up officially to operators who are located elsewhere, which means that, like the U.S., those companies will wind up soliciting business from their citizens in the spirit of circumvention. Norsk Tipping has gotten its license, and has the green light to offer online casino games, social games and bingo. That does not offer residents a big selection, or a competitive atmosphere, and that is a factor that certainly drives business elsewhere. In effect, that is exactly what happens, and we are delighted to help casino gaming enthusiasts in that pursuit.
Residents of Norway can take advantage of some strong deals that are offered by a number of online casinos. In fact, we do reviews of some of those places right here at Online Casino Lobby, and we hope that you follow our recommendations. We have carefully filtered through all the options to give you some outstanding choices, with quality customer support that can speak the language. These casinos will deal in the Norwegian Krona, which means that players will be able to make deposits in the currency and also receive bonuses that way. There will also be a number of casino deposit methods that will be "friendly" to Norwegians. Certainly there is no need on the part of Norwegians to restrict themselves to the monopolies.