Finland has introduced Euro 500 limit on loss from online gambling and as per the official statement, the measure will continue till September 30. The Ministry of Interior has introduced €500 online gambling loss limit which will come into effect from May 1. Amid COVID-19 lockdowns, the number of gambling bets has gone up across Europe. Finland Ministry of the Interior said that ‘fast-paced gambling games online’ would be under maximum loss of Euro 500 limit compared to earlier limit of Euro 2000.

The current limit will apply to bingo, virtual betting, casino games and all major betting and sports betting verticals except for poker.

Finland has also blocked any lottery draws till September. The closure on lottery draws will come into effect on May 4. Announcing the measures, Finnish Minister Maria Ohisalo said that the new limits were necessary to deal with rising number of people engaged in online betting.

As per 2016 survey, nearly 85% of Finnish population has tried luck in online betting at least once in a year. As per reports, there are nearly 124,000 people recognized as problem gamblers and Finnish government aims to dealing with growing number of gambling addicts.

As the number of bets has gone higher in the recent weeks, Lithuania and Latvia have also imposed bans on online gambling. Even advertising has been blocked. Online gaming and online casino portals are looking for opportunities elsewhere while many of them reported higher consumer interest in the recent weeks.