Practical Gambling Guide for Norway

When residing in Norway and becoming an online gambler, a roadmap to doing it properly is essential. This is due to the country’s odd and sometimes impractical way to regulate local casinos.

In a nutshell, there are two state companies that have the right to issue licenses, but the licensing process differs from the one used in neighboring countries. Many European state licensors consider certifying all businesses — domestic and foreign — once these businesses prove they can handle audits, pay fees, and provide quality services. Such licensors even categorize licenses by types (for slots, table games, Sportsbook), and issue permits in accordance with what the businesses apply for. 

This is a simple and transparent registration process. In Norway, however, a lot of exceptions pile up, leaving novice players confused:

  • Can Norwegian players gamble online or not? 
  • Can they register not only across the locally licensed but also at offshore gambling venues?
  • Will the banks block all gambling-related transactions forwarded to offshore online lobbies?
  •  

Neither of these, as well as other gambling-related questions when it comes to Norway, can be answered in a short manner with Yes/No. Hence, in comes our detailed guide. We are taking a closer look at legal questions and options that players from Norway have when it comes to local and foreign online casinos. We discuss how exactly offshore online operators process card payments when Norwegian laws prohibit banks to authorizes such gambling-related transactions. 

We will also talk about promotions, games, and other topics that will allow new (and experienced) Norway-based players to navigate the markets and play without stress. Our publication is subdivided into sections, each focusing on specific questions and providing practical answers.

Our Take on Online Gambling in Norway

Players from Norway do have choices when it comes to online gambling. They can use local gambling services from the two state-owned companies. Plus, for the diversity of payment methods, software, games, and bonuses, they can also head to international online lobbies.

For those of our Norwegian readers that are just getting started, we recommend doing some thorough research and choosing an online operator that is legit, has Norway-friendly banking, a lot of games, and decent welcome promotions.

The easiest way to find a great fit is by checking out our extensive list of 600+ websites accepting Norwegian players. The number of lobbies may seem overwhelming but newbies can easily narrow down the search by selecting preferred filters.

When it comes to filters, we recommend selecting NOK as the possible currency and would like to also mention that it is not uncommon to find great websites that support payments via Trustly or Nordea. Plus, it might a be a good idea to check websites that accept cryptocurrencies. Our database has plenty of reputable lobbies.

When getting started, we recommend carefully reading the T&C of the welcome bonuses, as well as checking whether all the games listed in the lobby are actually available to Norwegian gamblers. Other than that, mastering the art of bankrolling and keeping emotions in check will also be beneficial for any novice online gambler from Norway.

Check Best Casinos and Games for Norwegian Players

CHECK

Top Casinos and Bonuses for players from NORWAY

TOP CASINOSTOP BONUSES
Show FiltersHide Filters
Searching for the best Casinos
0%
Searching for the best Bonuses
0%

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Licensing and Legality: What’s the Deal with Norwegian Online Gambling Sector?

According to the Norwegian Gaming Scheme Act, gambling in this country is legal since 1902. However, it is also regulated by the government and there are two state-run companies that can conduct different forms of gambling. These companies are Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto. The first company works with lotteries, instant games, scratch cards, casino games, and sports betting. The second company specializes in harness racing and bets related to it.

No, the party in charge of licensing and regulating offline and online sectors is the Norwegian government, and more specifically, regulations fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture and Church Affairs. By the time we were making this review, the Ministry did not work on any standardized licensing system that would allow to certify and regulate domestic and foreign online operators. Therefore, the companies that have access to providing Norwegian players with an online casino and betting services are the abovementioned Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto.

We would rephrase the question. Only state-approved companies can provide online gambling services and international providers have no right to target the Norwegian gambling community. However, players from this country still have the freedom to register and play real money games or place bets at international and offshore lobbies without any risk of facing penalties. According to the data, somewhere between 10% to 15% of the country’s gambling community prefer to gamble in online lobbies registered outside the country.

Some may say that the state takes care of its gamblers. There was a moment in Norway’s recent history when the gambling suppliers abused the loophole in the legal writings and started offering slot machines in a lot of public venues. This led to a rise in gambling addictions, and the legislators amended the law, making the rules of placing slots across venues stricter.

On the other hand, judging by the example set by some of Norway’s neighboring countries we can say that doubling down on restrictions and punishments is less effective than creating a healthy and regulated, as well as transparent gambling environment. So, we can assume that Norway’s legislators are interested in keeping the revenues within Norsk Tipping AS and Norsk Rikstoto, and therefore, encouraging this monopoly. 

Our database shows that there are more than 400 Norway-friendly online operators. All of these are established websites with solid licensing and an array of services. Some even have their content and services adapted to the Norwegian language, and the cashiers supporting payments and bonuses in NOK and via locally convenient banking methods. But even the websites that do not have NOK in their cashiers, still accept Euros and USD — two currencies available to Norwegian gamblers.

Players from Norway that choose to play at international lobbies automatically face the problem of running into scammy sites. We always recommend checking for a website to have: 

  • a) a valid license (preferrably, from MGA),
  • b) a clearly stated owner (it is always easier to spot a potentially bad online casino if it belongs to a network where all sister sites receive poor reviews), 
  • c) good reviews from gambling portals, 
  • d) predominantly positive feedback from gamblers across the gaming forums, 
  • e) legit software, f) safe and secure payment methods.

As a rule of thumb, we recommend putting websites with permits from the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) first. The only other licensor that can compete with it in terms of prestige is the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) but websites with permits from UKGC are available only to the Brits. We also always say that sites licensed by the local regulators (the governments of Sweden, Italy, Spain) tend to be reliable. The key difference being — unlike the state or Norway — these local licensors are also eager to certify international businesses.

Licensors like Curacao, Cyprus, and Antigua and Barbuda (to name a few) are generally considered weaker and in a way, they are. Statistically, there are more rogue websites among those certified by these jurisdictions. There are, however, benefits to these licensors, too. An MGA-certified online lobby will not be able to provide games and bonuses in cryptocurrencies but a Curacao-certified website can easily do so.

Banking and Payments

For those of you willing to catch up with the details of the gambling-related card payments, the state of Norway passed the Payment Act in 2010. Similar to the UIGEA in the USA, the act regulates all gambling-related bank payments and allows banks to block transactions to or from offshore online casinos.

Theoretically, this should make card casino deposits and withdrawals problematic to Norwegian gamblers. In practice, however, 100s of Norway-friendly online operators still offer this payment method to their customers. They do so because they know a way and third-party software that would allow payments to and from online casinos to be encrypted or re-routed. It sounds complicated but the trick is easy. There are third-party service providers that help transform casino-related payments so that Norwegian banks do not detect them as such.

In a nutshell, if you see a Norway-friendly online operator that offers cards as deposit and withdrawal methods, this means that a platform knows a way to protect its players.

Yes, absolutely! There are still plenty of alternatives, including prepaid cards for deposits, as well as e-wallets for deposits and withdrawals. For Norway, the list of recommended e-wallets broadly available across 100s of gambling platforms includes NetellerSkrillecoPayz, and MuchBetter, as well as MiFinity, and several others. Plus, gamblers from Norway can always turn to cryptocurrencies.

Aside from the locally-licensed platforms, our database shows 300+ great lobbies that adapted and expanded their cashiers to include the Norwegian gambling community and to support payments in NOK. To mention a few out of such highly recommended places to bet and win, we can spotlight ComeOn CasinoMr. Green CasinoGuts Casino, and Videoslots.

We can say with the utmost certainty that using cryptocurrencies significantly simplifies the banking process, especially when the local laws explicitly prohibit using bank-based payments in relation to international online gambling.

It is easy to set a crypto wallet, and a list of decent crypto-friendly online operators that accept players from Norway is very big. To mention a few out of many brands, the list includes Everygame Casino ClassicCyberSpins, and Casoo.

There are more than 100 cryptocurrencies but the online gambling sector tends to offer services in only 10+ of them. We can mention Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ethereum, Tron, and Doge among some of the most popular.

In terms of getting started, it is very similar to creating a regular e-wallet. Select a currency, head to its official site, and start the registration process. We cover it in greater detail in our guide for newbies.

Since we already discussed cards, e-wallets, and crypto-wallets, we will not focus on them. Instead, we will cover payment solutions that are very popular in Scandinavia and are also broadly used across international online operators. One such payment method is Trustly available on 200+ websites. Among them, you will find big and established brands like Vera & JohnLeo Vegas, and SpinPalace.

Another payment method popular in Norway is Nordea, and our database shows 50+ places to bet and win with this banking solution. These are brands like CasumoCasombie, and Karamba, to mention a few.

Available to residents of northern European countries, Pay n Play is a feature that players from many other countries dream of. This Trustly unique banking product allows players to skip the annoying and bureaucratic process of registering. Instead, a Pay n Play casino offers a deposit screen on the homepage. A player specifies the amount of cash he/she wants to deposit. Pay n Play verifies the transaction and exchanges verification data with an online operator, while the player instantly gets access to all the online games of the platform.

If you would like to instantly proceed to real money wagering, definitely look for Pay n Play lobbies. Our database has plenty of such sites to choose from. Simply adjust the search filter.

For starters, 99% of banking methods do not charge players for deposits — this is an expense that a payment provider leaves to the merchant. Exceptions may apply to cards. Plus, a lot of banking solutions will not add fees for withdrawals but a gambling platform can. 

Overall, financial transactions within blockchains are free of charge and cashouts to regular e-wallets are regularly free. Bank-based transactions can have fees up to 50 EUR.

E-wallets and crypto-wallets can process cashout transactions instantly. In practice, though, a team of an online casino will add processing time to it and the overall withdrawal process may take between a few hours to a couple of days.

The slowest way to receive the wins is via cards and bank transfers. In this case, get ready to wait for between two to five workdays.

Promotions and Bonuses

Promotions are different types of bonuses, including cash, cashback, free spins, and tournaments that online operators use to encourage their new and registered players to register or come back and play more. Depending on the selected lobby, players from Norway can qualify for welcome, ongoing, and loyalty bonuses. There are even some platforms that have sign-up deals created specifically for players from Norway. One of such websites is Tsars Casino.

Promotions are not free cash or spins, even if they are called so. Players are expected to roll the deals over between 20x to 90, depending on the requirements of every specific platform. Let’s say, a website offers 20 free spins to Norwegian gamers and has the bonus that has the assigned rollover requirements of 20xB. This means that players that claimed the bonus will need to roll the wins from it over 20 times. The same goes for cash, only the website may require to play through the bonus cash, deposited cash, or bonus+deposit.

No-deposit bonuses are promotions that a website is willing to credit to an account of the registered player without any initial deposits. Such promotions work great if a player wants to test the services of the new platform. Keep in mind that the no-deposit bonuses will still have the rollover requirements attached to them. The offers may come as cash or bonus spins. There are quite a few great websites offering no-deposit deals to Norwegian players. The list of such operators includes BoyleSports Casino and PrimaPlay Casino.

In addition to the no-deposit deals, customers from Norway can enjoy a classic welcome bonus that covers the initial deposit, or select platforms with welcome packages. the packages are sets of deals for more than two initial deposits. Such deals may contain only cash match from 50% to 300%, or free spins, or a combination of both.

There are plenty of Norway-friendly lobbies offering classic sign-up bonuses on the initial deposit. Among others, we can mention Casino Cruise and CasinoEuro. Great welcome packages are available at MondCasino.

Absolutely! Any website specializing in crypto will have an array of welcome and ongoing promotions for Norwegian gamers. To mention a few out of many great locations, there is LadyLuck CasinoWild Card City, and 140+ other places to bet and win.

The loyalty promotions are deals that the website offers to its registered regulars. To get into a VIP program, a player needs to wager real cash regularly. Wagered cash is then exchanged for complimentary points, and accumulated loyalty points open doors to the VIP tiers. The higher the tier, the better the promotions, including faster cashouts, bigger withdrawal limits, birthday deals, and personal managers. Depending on the T&C of the platform, Norwegian players may be able to participate in VIP promotions.

Games and Software

This will depend on the rules of every online operator. Some websites allow withdarwing cash if a player completed the rollover requirements on time. Others will allow withdrawing only the wins from the promotion.

Games and Software

Players can enjoy an array of live and non-live content. There are slot machines, table games (roulette, blackjack, baccarat, table pokers), live casino content, arcades, scratch cards, and poker rooms.

Absolutely! Norse mythology and Scandinavian culture are among some of the most popular themes in the world of online gambling. You can find Norse-themed slots under Folklore and History filters. Plus, there are popular releases like Vikings Go Wild by Yggdrasil Gaming, Age of the Gods Norse: King of Asgard by Playtech, and Valkyries of Odin by StakeLogic.

Gamers from this country can enjoy reeled adventures from most of the trending content creators. Lobbies that welcome the reviewed country, may have up to 100 studios available, including Net Entertainment, Microgaming, Yggdrasil Gaming, Lightning Box Games, 1x2 Gaming, Just For The Win, Amatic, Blueprint Gaming, and Stakelogic.

No, this cohort of games is based on RNG and there are hardly any strategies that can guarantee wins. All players can do is smartly plan the budget, pick slots that have a good RTP and suitable volatility, and hope that the reels will land in winning combinations.

Live casino content is games streamed live 24/7 and hosted by real dealers. There are quite a few great content creators that deliver a premium live dealer experience, and the list includes Evolution Gaming, Ezugi, Pragmatic Live, and Real Dealer Studios. All of these providers are available to Norwegian gamers. Live dealer content became extremely popular in recent years. To some players, it serves as a replacement for land-based casinos. Plus, there are studios that actually stream their roulette and blackjack games from land-based venues but most of the releases are available from custom-built studios.

The bigger the live dealer studio — the higher the chances that it hires dealers that speak various languages, including Norwegian. Evolution Gaming, among others, has Roulette Norsk. 

Although dealers speaking Norwegian for other games can be hard to find, each lobby that has Norwegian among its language adaptations will make live dealer content adapted to the local language, too, and the adaptation will cover everything interface-related.

Games like roulette and baccarat, as well as game shows, are based on chance. Therefore, the only two skills that will come in handy will be the art of mastering the bankroll, as well as a habit of keeping emotions in check.

For live games like blackjack and table pokers, there are plenty of tips and winning strategies that actually work when it comes to setting the winning goals.

Most of the Norway-friendly online operators deliver their content in a browser-based mode unless the players pick websites powered by Rival, Saucify, or RealTime Gaming. Most of such websites also offer browser-based content but they also have old-school downloadable content.

Jackpot slots are reeled adventures connected to progressive networks. Hundreds of players rolling the reels of such games contribute a certain percentage of each stake to the pot, which grows until one lucky spinner hits the jackpot-winning combinations. Over the years, 100s of gamblers managed to grab millions of Euros worth of wins from such games. To mention some of the most iconic jackpot slots, there is Divine Fortune by Net Entertainment, Mega Moolah by Microgaming, and Age of the Gods by Playtech.

New Online Casinos in Norway