Sweden Considers Combining Online Poker Operations

Sweden is very eager to get players away from private online sites in offer to prevent undesirable economic and social effects.  A Swedish study has resulted in proposals to combine state run poker sites into a governmentally operated online poker network. 

Sweden already has Svenska Pal which is a poker site that is controlled by the government and it operates under the rules of social responsibility.

The study was designed to find the reasons that gamblers would choose private sites over state operations.  Predictably the larger tournaments with bigger prizes and special new player deposit bonuses were the most common of the reasons found.  By linking Svenska Spel with other government poker sites the tournament sites and prizes could be substantially increased.

The problem of combating bonuses is a little more difficult however, state sites cannot offer bonuses directly as it would violate the laws by encouraging gambling. 

The Swedish run sites could outsource part of their operation to other national sites.  Such as the online poker rooms that are run by Austrian Lotteries, any such transfer would require an agreement that would abide by the Swedish responsibility rules.