Estonia is one of the youngest countries in the European Union when it comes to gambling. Not everyone knows that this country legalized land-based casino gambling only 26 years ago. Besides, online gambling only started being regulated in 2009. This means that there are a lot of things to explore, and in this article, we will look at some important features about the gambling scene in Estonia.
The gambling market is still rather small, but it is growing rapidly with Estonian online casinos springing up on the scene day by day. There is great potential for growth in the sector, and the stakeholders are creating the environment to make the gambling industry thrive.
What`s the gambling history of Estonia?
Before analyzing the current gambling scene in Estonia, it is important to get an overview of the history of gambling in this country. Estonia was part of the ex-Soviet Union. Because of this past, it does not have a long history of gambling. The Soviet Union then was actually working openly against gambling, and banned any type of games of chance. There were still unregulated illegal casinos that were operating across the country, but it was far from being anything significant.
Now, gambling is legal in Estonia, and this can be related to the fact that Estonia became independent in 1991. From that moment on, gambling institutions such as the national lottery operator, Eesti Loto, were launched and became part of the Estonian gambling scene. Gambling in Estonia was actually legislated only around 1994, and this was done through the introduction of the Lottery Act. The next year, the government also adopted another law called the “Gambling Act.” This document regulates four different types of gambling activities, such as games of chance, games of skill, totalizators, and betting.
From that moment on, the Estonian government tried to keep up with the latest trends in the world of gambling, and has fully embraced online gambling. Of course, the financial crisis of 2008 hit the economy hard, and that affected the gambling industry as well as other sectors of the society. The crisis was indeed challenging, but it created the best circumstances for online casinos to gain popularity.
Structure of the Gambling Sector
Estonia is a small country, and its gambling market is in proportion to the size of the country. There are active and licensed operators that are bringing steady growth to the sector. At this moment, there are 25 new companies operating in the sector and 21 companies operate online. There are several niches that are becoming quite successful in this sector, such as games of chance, toto or sport betting, lottery, games of skill, and even commercial lottery. The niches that are the most popular are sportsbooks, totalizators and generally, online casinos.
The biggest casino operator in Estonia is Olympic Entertainment Group, which owns about 40% of casino venues in the country. Casino games and slot machines are also allowed on cruise ships, lottery raffles are organized for charity purposes, and they are subject to a tax rate of 18%.
What are the gambling regulations in Estonia?
As mentioned earlier, all gambling activities are regulated by the 2008 Gambling Act and the Gambling Tax Act. There is a regulatory body called the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. Gambling in Estonia is normally defined as a game with a random outcome where a player makes a financial bet and could receive a monetary prize as a result. Therefore, gaming, betting, the lottery, and social and skill-based games are all allowed, even though there are some age restrictions to take into consideration.
For playing the lottery, the age must be a minimum of 16 years. For sports betting on the other hand, the minimum age is 18 years, and for casinos, the player must be 21 years and above.
What are the preferences of Estonian gamblers?
Estonian gamblers have different preferences when it comes to gambling. Research has shown that people in Estonia like online casinos, and 25% prefer them over land-based casinos. Game-wise, people seem to prefer slot machines above every other game. This is an interesting phenomenon, as the majority of countries where gambling is legal are witnessing the same kind of preference. Following slot machines, people seem to prefer sports betting, and some casino games including poker.
The advent of online casinos definitely changed the way Estonians - especially the younger generation - view casinos and gambling compared to the past when society used to frown on anything gambling related. Now the tech savvy Estonians interact freely with online platforms that offer a wide variety of games to choose from. Most even prefer playing casino games on their mobile devices as it offers the convenience of playing at any time, even on the go.
