Casino without a Swedish license vs. with license

The casino games market has expanded exponentially in recent years, and more and more people across the country are choosing to spend their free time on various casino sites. Although discussions about a possible ban on unlicensed casinos are arising, the trend in their popularity does not seem to be decreasing.

In addition to more and more online casinos appearing on the market, there has also been an increase in the number of comparison sites where you compare new casinos without a Swedish license or with a Swedish license. On these sites, players can sort through new casinos and read reviews with ratings based on offers, bonuses, and customer reviews.

Regulates the market less

The main difference between licensed casinos and the so-called unlicensed ones is that the later version is not licensed by the Swedish Gambling Authority. Since 2019, when the laws of the game was introduced in Sweden, a license is a requirement for all casinos that want to offer games for
Swedes. The reason is partly to be able to create a regulated market, partly to provide increased consumer protection for players.

Casinos that today are not licensed by the Swedish Gambling Authority are not themselves completely unlicensed.
But in most cases it is licensed by a foreign body. For this reason, it should however, these companies do not follow the Swedish rules and may differ on various factors such as consumer protection, bonus offers, game selection and taxes. Often these casinos are also interpreted as a less regulated market because it's hard to keep track of player habits and how a lot they prefer to spend on them.

Consumer protection

As part of the Swedish licensing system, each casino has high requirements for providing secure platforms. In addition to ensuring the security of their players' personal data, they must also be able to discourage excessive gambling. Among other things, all sites must clearly show that they
are connected to Spelpaus and offer players self-checks and game restrictions. In addition to this, it should each casino also monitors the behavior of the players in order to be able to more easily intervene in case of negative trends will emerge.

Game break

The gaming break is part of the liability for gambling in the new gambling law and is a feature that gives Swedes the option to disconnect from gambling. The advantage of the feature is that in a few simple steps, players are banned from all casinos and bookmakers with a Swedish license. In addition, there is a suspension at agents and at the hippodromes of the country. Read here how to manage time and money in an online casino.

Game breaks are not available at casinos without a Swedish license. There may be some similar features, but they are not as extensive and usually only apply to one company, not several.

Self-checks and game restrictions

Like Spelpaus, the Swedish licensed casino also includes self-checks and gaming restrictions. One of the goals is for players to be able to set their own limits on both playing time and deposits on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. Through self-testing, they can also easily check what their gaming behavior is today and can get recommendations if a possible suspension is required.

Bonus Offers

Apart from one casino having a Swedish license and another not, the second biggest difference between them is their bonus offers. In order for Swedish players to maintain a certain moderation in their gambling, only one bonus can be offered - the welcome bonus. On the other hand, casinos have completely different rules outside of these rules and they can usually offer more bonuses as well as bigger ones. What 21% of respondents in a gambling survey conducted by the Swedish Gambling Authority cited as the main reason for gambling on such sites.

In addition to the fact that bonuses are usually larger, some casinos may offer additional promotions for loyal players and for those who spend large amounts on sites. There are also prizes with trips and cars in the bank.

Game selection

According to the same survey conducted by Spelinspektionen, many respondents believe that the choice of games itself is better on casino sites without a Swedish license. The reason for this is that in some cases the number of games can be much larger and therefore offer more variety.

But even when it comes to betting, sites without a Swedish license can offer bets on games not available in Sweden. We can talk about small football matches, but also about sports that are not as popular in Sweden as they are abroad.
See also: The growing presence of roulette in the entertainment industry