Online Gambling in Sweden: Guide to the Best Swedish Gambling Sites for 2024

The Best Online Gambling Sites in Sweden

Sweden’s open online gambling market may only be young, but it already offers a number of reputable international gaming sites that are well worth signing up to. By reading this Swedish online gambling sites guide, you will find our recommendations for the top gaming offers with high-quality products and promotions. You can find the best Swedish online casinos and sportsbooks for 2024 below.

Todd Winkler, Editor at online-gambling.com

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Todd Winkler has been an editor at online-gambling.com for 6 years. His focus is on guides and articles about poker games, blackjack, and DFS. With relatives in New Zealand, he is also well aware of the gambling industry in the country.

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Types of Legal Gambling Activities in Sweden

Sweden’s laws are comprehensive when it comes to regulating gambling activities, and players will be happy to know that almost all forms of standard gambling types are legal. Both land-based and online gambling opportunities exist for casino games such as slots and table games, poker, sports betting, horse racing, bingo, the lottery, and daily fantasy sports.

Swedish Online Casino Gambing

For decades, Sweden’s online gambling options were provided by a state-run monopoly. After this was challenged by the European Union for being anti-competitive, Sweden introduced new legislation to broaden the market and allow both local and foreign operators to apply for licenses. These first of these operators launched in Sweden in 2019, and since then locals have had access to some of the biggest and best online casino operators in the world. These safe, fair, and reliable sites offer games such as slots, roulette, blackjack, and video poker, as well as live dealer casinos for those looking for a more immersive online casino experience.

Sports Betting

Sports betting is more popular in Sweden than online casino gambling, so it’s important for bettors to have plenty of online options. Thankfully, the newly introduced gambling laws also allowed a plethora of top sportsbook operators to apply for licenses in Sweden, which quickly broadened the legal online options from two operators to more than a dozen. Swedish sports bettors can wager at several top international sportsbooks, with many of these sites offering the most advanced betting platforms and features. Whether you’re looking to place live bets on football or live stream and wager on up-and-coming options such as virtual sports, you won’t have any trouble finding a site that can cater to your needs. You can find the top Swedish sports betting offers below.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Although Sweden does not officially regulate Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), these games are legal in the country. For the time being, Sweden’s gambling regulator considers DFS to be a game of skill as opposed to gambling, although it has expressed some interest in licensing these sites in the future. For now, Swedish players can legally access some great DFS competitions. If you’re unfamiliar with these competitions, DFS sees players draft fantasy teams from a sports league and earn points every week based on the real-life performance of their chosen players. A small fee is charged to enter, which is pooled and awarded to the highest performing competitors. This game requires dedication and research, so it is perfect for sports lovers and sports bettors alike. See our top DFS offer below.

Online Poker

Up until 2019, Swedish players had only one online poker option. Now, the top poker sites in the world can be played in the country. Both land-based and online poker is quite popular in Sweden, and the country is home to several top-performing World Series of Poker players. If you’re unfamiliar with online poker, this is to be distinguished from online video poker which sees you compete against a computer instead of real-life players. There are plenty of single cash game events and tournaments hosted around the clock in Sweden, with Texas Hold’em, Omaha and Stud games the most popular. We recommend you check out our Swedish top poker site below.

Online Lottery

The lottery is the most popular gambling activity in Sweden. In fact, a recent survey found that around 48 per cent of the country’s population participate in the lottery each year as opposed to only five per cent that gamble at casinos. Due to Sweden’s new gambling laws, many players may not be aware that there are more online lottery options to choose from. Players can now buy tickets for local and international draws and jackpot games from their desktops or mobile devices. The best sites, such as the one we have recommended below, even offer digital scratch cards and bingo!

Our Guide to Choosing the Right Swedish Online Gambling Site

Now that you’ve seen some of the top offers, you may be ready to sign up right away to a site. However, before you dive into providing your details and claiming your bonus, there are several more pieces of important information you may want to know before making your decision. In order to find the top sites, we have taken into account a number of important factors that indicate the quality, trustworthiness, and competitiveness of a gambling site. We recommend you keep scrolling through to learn how to spot a top gambling site, or simply jump to each section with the links below.

Licencing & Safety in Sweden

Many online gamblers may not be aware that online casinos are a prime target for scammers and hackers. While this shouldn’t scare you off from gambling online, it does mean that you need to be extra cautious about choosing a site that is trustworthy and immune from outside attacks. The best way to do this is to only gamble with websites that are licensed in Sweden or in other EU countries. Gambling sites are licensed by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s primary gaming regulator. If you see its official logo at the bottom of the site homepage, this will indicate that the site has undergone independent testing to guarantee fair gaming, is encrypted to protect users’ connections, and implements a responsible gambling policy to protect at-risk gamblers. You can find details for some of the gambling safety organizations operating in Sweden below.

The Games and Betting Options

No matter what kind of gambling site you wish to join, it’s important that you research the available gaming and betting products first. When it comes to choosing an online casino, you’ll want to make sure that there is a large selection of slots, including the most popular slots from a variety of reputable software providers. If you’re choosing a sportsbook, make sure that the site accepts wagers for sports and leagues that interest you, as well as some others that may pique your interest. The same pre-check process should be applied to poker and lottery sites. This is important because you don’t want to make an investment in a site only to realize that there’s nothing on offer that interests you. Your main experience will be with the games and betting products, so even if the site is offering a decent bonus offer, it will be worthless if there’s nothing you want to spend it on.

Popular Swedish Real Money Online Gambling Games

Sports betting is currently the most popular gambling game in Sweden besides the lottery, with 20 per cent of the country wagering on sports at least once a year. Football is the most popular sports betting market in Sweden. With the changes to the country’s gambling laws still quite fresh, we expect for the online casino market to continue growing, with slots already proving to be the most popular casino game among current players. As the land-based casino market is fairly limited, it may take time for players to become more familiar with table games such as roulette and blackjack, though new bettors should give these a shot if they want to take advantage of higher payout rates. On this note, we have listed the most popular gambling games in Sweden and their average RTPS below.

Top Welcome Bonus Offers in Sweden

While you’re searching for new online gambling sites, it is likely that you’ll come across plenty of welcome bonus offers aimed at new customers. These bonuses will vary from site-to-site depending on whether it’s a sportsbook or an online casino. Online casinos tend to offer free spins on new or popular slots, or fund matches on your first deposits. Sportsbooks may offer free bets or odds boosts, and will also frequently offer deposit matches.

Sites may also offer promotions to loyal customers based on how much they have deposited or how frequently they play. This is well worth looking into before you sign-up. One factor that is essential to consider is the terms and conditions of bonuses. These terms, such as the validity or wagering requirements, have a major impact on the value of bonuses. Below, we’ve listed the best bonus offer for each type of gambling site along with their terms.

Average Payout Rates of Swedish Gambling Sites

The fairness of a gambling site should be high on your list of priorities when deciding where to sign up. But how can you know this? The average payout rate is a reliable indicator of how much sites pay out their revenues to customers, and the higher this number is, the better. This rate is worked out by finding the average return to player rate of all of their games or betting options. In order to earn a license, operators must have their average payout rates verified by independent testing laboratories such as eCOGRA. Below, we’ve provided the verified payout rates at the top Swedish gambling sites.

Accepted Payment Methods

Another reliable way to guarantee the trustworthiness of a gambling site is checking what payment methods are accepted. If well-known payment providers such as PayPal, Mastercard, and VISA are accepted, this indicates that the site is trusted by providers that are vigilant about only collaborating with secure and verified sites. These major providers also utilize state-of-the-art technology as well, so this provides customers with peace of mind in knowing that their transactions will be protected. When we judge a site, we like to see a wide selection of payment method categories accepted ranging from e-Wallets to credit cards. As each method varies in terms of fees and transaction times, the more options available, the wider the pool of players can be catered to. You can find some of the most common and reliable payment methods accepted at Swedish gambling sites below.

1. e-Wallets:
   1. PayPal
   2. Neteller
   3. Skrill
2. Credit/Debit Cards:
   1. Mastercard
   2. VISA
   3. Maestro
3. Bank Transfers:
   1. Zimpler
   2. Instant Banking
   3. Bank Transfer
   4. Wire Transfer
4. Other:
   1. Bitcoin
   2. Swish
   3. ApplePay
   4. Google Pay
   5. Trustly

Mobile Gambling Options

Mobile online gambling is by far the most convenient way to play at online casinos and wager at sportsbooks. It is also becoming increasingly popular, as more Swedish gamblers are turning to their smartphones and tablets to place wagers. For this reason, it is essential that your chosen gambling site offers a reliable mobile gambling platform, whether that be through an app or a browser version. It should also offer a site that is compatible with both iOS and Android devices, as a vast majority of Swedish people use these. When we’re grading a site’s mobile options, we like to see that it is easy-to-navigate and offers the same products and features as the desktop site. Fortunately, all of our top sites do exactly this, You can find details of the best gambling apps for each category of Swedish gambling sites and their phone requirements below.

Safe, Fair and Reliable Gambling Software

If you want to have access to the most diverse selection of games, you’ll want to choose a gambling site that utilizes a number of software developers to create its products. With online casinos in particular, different developers have reputations for offering different things, such as unique payout systems, aesthetics, or beloved franchises. These developers make up the backbone of a games library, and so it’s best to have a number of top providers on offer. For other kinds of sites, the quality of the developers will have an effect on the quality of the website interface and the betting systems. Either way, you’ll want to choose a site that uses high-quality software that is stable, safe, and fair, such as the top software providers below.

Sweden’s Gambling Laws

For decades, Sweden’s gambling industry was run by a state-run operator, Svenska Spel. This company was in charge of offering all land-based and online gambling options, from sportsbooks, the lottery, and online casinos. In 2014, the European Union successfully won an anti-competitive lawsuit against Sweden’s gambling monopoly and ruled that the country would have to open up its market to foreign operators. The Gambling Act of 2018, which came into effect on January 1 2019, opened legal avenues for outside operators to earn licenses, and mandated the creation of the new Swedish online and land-based gambling regulator Spelinskektionen.

The Legality of Online Gamblin in Sweden

Although online gambling has been legal since 2002 in Sweden, the broad market as it exists today is still in its infancy. There are now dozens of licensed operators that can offer online casinos, sportsbooks, online poker, and daily fantasy sports to Swedish players. While players can technically gamble with operators not licensed in Sweden, they will have to pay taxes on these winnings.

Land-Based Gambling in Sweden

Although the Swedish gambling market has recently been changed to allow for foreign online gambling operators, the land-based gambling industry is still run by Svenska Spel. This includes all four of the country’s casinos and all physical sports betting locations. In fact, it is a requirement for those wanting to bet at a physical betting shop to be registered at a physical address, so tourists are unable to place bets here. Fortunately, the same does not go for casinos. Nevertheless, players in Sweden can legally wager on land-based sports, horse racing, poker, and casino games if it is done at a Svenska Spel-run location.

Official Swedish Gaming Regulator

The Spelinspektionen is the official regulator of online gambling in Sweden. It was established under the Gambling Act of 2018 and has been active since January 1, 2019. It is in charge of everything from reviewing and granting gaming licenses to advising the government on law changes, as well as enforcing the regulations. It’s main focus areas include online gambling, gaming machines, illegal gambling, Svenska Spel’s operations, and the lottery. There are roughly 65 employees at the Spelinspektionen, who operate under the guidance of Board leader Director-General Camilla Rosenberg.

Tax Rates for Online Gambling in Sweden

According to Sweden’s tax department, all licensed commercial gambling operators must pay a tax rate of 18 percent on gross gaming revenues. This is in addition to regular licensing fees that are scaled according to how much is earned each year, and a one-time application fee of 400,000kr for sportsbook operators and online casinos, and 700,000kr for operators that offer both. Fortunately for players, no taxes are charged on gambling winnings if the gambling takes place at a website licensed in Sweden. If the gambling winnings come from a non-licensed site, the winnings will be taxed as personal income.

Legal Gambling Age

For most activities, players must be over 18 years old in order to legally gamble in Sweden. Swedish regulations are extremely strict on this, and casino operators must verify the identities and ages of all account holders before they can place real money bets. The only exception to this rule is that players must be over 20 years old to enter land-based casinos. This was only recently brought in as a new rule under the Gambling Act of 2018.

Advertising Laws

A major focus of the new Gambling Act was the tackling of problem gambling and underage gambling. In order to do this, the law outlined strict marketing regulations when it came to gambling advertisements. Put broadly, gambling operators must highly moderate the kinds of advertisements they put out. As outlined by Sper, a Swedish gaming industry organization, gambling marketing;

Of course, only operators licensed in Sweden are able to advertise in the country. And while it is legal for operators to market online, advertising on television and radio is highly restricted.

Penalties for Illegal Gambling

Thanks to the new gambling legislation, the laws in Sweden regarding tolerated gambling activities are much more clear than before. One of the benefits of this is that gambling-related offences can be more appropriately tackled by gambling authorities, which keeps gambling safer for players. There are several gambling crimes that have been defined by Swedish lawmakers, and punishments for breaking offences include license suspension, fines, and even imprisonment. Serious offences include offering illegal games or unauthorized activities, money laundering, match-fixing, tax evasion, and accepting underage players. You can find some common gambling crimes and their punishments below.

Upcoming Changes to Regulations

Due to the recency of the new gambling laws, it was expected that there would not be any more major changes to the Swedish gambling market for some time. Then, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Swedish regulators introduced some changes to the laws in order to curb a potential rise in problem gambling. These changes included forcing players to set limits on their casino playing time, limiting weekly deposits to 5,000 SEK, and limiting bonuses to SEK 100. Although these laws were to stay until the end of 2020, they are still in effect and may even be tightened. Other announcements include a major lawmaker announcing plans to increase the powers of Spelinspektionen in order to tackle aggressive marketing tactics from operators. Despite this, there has been no clarification of what these powers would be, or even what constitutes aggressive marketing.

Responsible Gambling Advocacy

The most beneficial thing about having an open and regulated gambling market is that gamblers are much less tempted to gamble with untrustworthy, unlicensed offshore betting sites. As many of these sites operate outside of the law, they will not implement any technology, limitations, or harm-minimisation features that protect at-risk players from developing compulsive habits. Licensed sites are required to create and uphold a responsible gambling policy that includes offering self-limitation and self-exclusion. There are also several great resources available to Swedish players that can provide assistance if you or a loved one are struggling with gambling addiction. You can find details to some of these organizations below.

Curious Facts About Sweden’s Gambling Industry

Due to the fact that gambling has long held a place in Sweden’s culture, there are plenty of interesting statistics related to the gambling market. Gambling is popular and widespread throughout the country, with 60 per cent of Swedish adults admitting to gambling at least once in 2019. In 2019 the Swedish gambling market generated gross revenues of 24.8 billion SEK. Surprisingly, 57 per cent of revenues were generated online. It’s expected that a huge amount was also generated through illegal gambling. A large proportion of gamblers enjoy the lottery, with 75 per cent gamblers reporting having played the lottery in 2019. This indicates the Svenska Spel remains a huge player in the gambling market.

Swedish Gambling History

For over eighty years, all forms of legal gambling were offered by Sweden’s state-run monopoly. Up until the turn of the century, there were two state organizations — AB Tipstjänst, which offered sports betting, and Penninglotteriet, which was the national lottery. When land-based gambling was legalized in 1994, these two companies merged to create Svenska Spel. Svenska Spel enjoyed a monopoly on gambling throughout the first two decades of the new century, up until the recent passing of the Gambling Act of 2018. Since then, more than 70 foreign operators have earned licenses from the Spelinspektionen. You can find some of the most important dates in our Swedish gambling history timeline below.

Land-Based Casinos

There are four land-based casinos in Sweden, all of which are run by Svenska Spel. They are located in the most populous cities in the country and operate under the Casino Cosmopol subsidiary. After casino gambling was legalized in 1994, the first casino to open in Sweden was the Casino Cosmopol Sundsvall. There are now also casinos in Stockholm, Malmo, and Gothenburg. All of the profits generated by the casinos go toward the National Trust. At these sites, players are able to enjoy a wide selection of slots, table games, and poker. Players must be over 20 years old to visit land-based casinos in Sweden.

Famous Swedish Poker Players

Swedish players have been earning strong reputations in the poker world since the early 2000s, with many being successful at both land-based and online tournaments. The most successful Swedish poker player is Martin Jacobson, who in 2014 became the first and only Swedish player to win a World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet. In total, Jacobson has amassed more than $17 million USD from his poker career. Two other Swedish players who have earned fame and notoriety in the poker world are Michael Tureniec and Viktor Blom.

Gambling in Swedish Pop Culture

Although Sweden’s film industry doesn’t quite rival that of other European giants, the country still has a very proud history in cinematic storytelling. As casino gambling wasn’t legal until 20 years ago, there haven’t been too many films or books about the industry. That being said, we’ve still managed to find some representations of gambling in Swedish pop culture for cinephiles and book-lovers with a penchant for gambling stories.

Online Gambling vs Land-Based Gambling in Sweden

In countries with plenty of land-based gambling options, it’s easy to present a balanced argument for both online and land-based gambling. Due to Sweden’s small land-based casino options, we recommend online gambling over the former. Several perks to online casino gambling are that there are thousands of more game options, players do not have to be over 20 years old, and online casinos are much more convenient. Online sportsbooks are also more convenient and don’t require you to have a Swedish address to enjoy. The major downside is that online gambling sites can’t quite replicate the atmosphere of land-based casinos, though a simple workaround is to play at online live casinos.

Additional Interesting Articles

Do you want to keep learning about all things related to online gambling? Then we’ve got some more pages for you. We’ve listed a few more interesting articles that feature the same easy-to-digest and informative guides on other gambling-related matters. We highly recommend reading them before signing up to an online casino as each contains useful tips and tricks.

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