Veikkaus To Implement Loss Limit Restrictions On Slot Machines

Finland continues to take steps to protect its players from gambling harm. Veikkaus is the state sponsored gambling operator in the country and also the gambling regulator. Veikkaus has a monopoly over the gambling market which allows it to have full control over all gambling activities.

Veikkaus recently announced that it plans to roll out a new loss limit feature across all slot machines. This feature will come into play from September 2021.

With this new restriction, gamblers will now have a limit to the amount of money they can lose on slot machines. This latest restriction is part of the new measures that Veikkaus is rolling out as part of its corporate social responsibility program. The program started a few years ago when there was an out by the public about how Veikkaus was not doing enough to protect its customers from gambling harm.

The slot machine feature will be installed this before the end of September and it will limit players from losing money on a gaming device during a period of time. The Finnish Ministry of the Interior initially set a maximum loss limit of €500 per day and a max loss limit of €2,000 each month. Veikkaus thinks that it is a better idea to allow players themselves to set their limits.

The loss limits are to combine with the recent mandatory identification verification controls. This should help identify players as they play and keep track of their losses. The ID verification was planned for 2023 but Veikkaus rolled it out two years earlier because of pressure.

ID verification works by asking all slot machine players to identify themselves every time they want to play. They use a special Veikkaus-issued ID card that ensures that they are of the minimum age. Combined with the loss limits, players will not be able to play anonymously anymore. These measures are expected to have an impact on problem gambling numbers in the future.

Fewer Slot Machines

Besides the two new measures above, Veikkaus has also decided to reduce the number of slot machines in Finland by a significant number. In 2020, the original plan was to cut down slot machines by 3,500 machines. The operator decided to go amp that number up that and reduce it by 8,000 slot machines. There are now only 10,500 slot machines left in Finland.