SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Sami Helenius, a former National Hockey League (NHL) player, has walked away from Kasino Curt, his casino affiliate business, just weeks after announcing its launch.
Targeting Swedish casino enthusiasts, Helenius was to run the site from his native Finland, however he has decided to quit after receiving police contact.
In the Scandinavian nation gambling operations are run by Fintoto, Veikkaus and RAY, who merged at the beginning of the year, under the direction of the Finnish Lotteries Act.
Kasino Curt details that to avoid legal problems they did not publish marketing materials within Finland, instead focusing on its target market of Sweden.
Of the legal problems, Helenius detailed: “I decided to quit my business, when the Police of Finland sent me a request for clarification. They suspected that we are really marketing to Finns, not to Swedes.
“After reading their message I immediately understood that there was no way for me to convince them that we are not targeting Finns. Among other things, they wanted to know if Finns could gamble on the gambling sites we wanted to advertise in kasinocurt.com.
“Finland does not block gambling sites, so of course it’s possible. Finland defends its monopoly very, very aggressively, even when the “aggressor” is not targeting Finnish casino enthusiasts. This is very disappointing and frustrating, as I had big plans for Kasino Curt.”
Helenius, a former Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks enforcer, named his site after Swedish ice hockey coach Curt Lindström, who won a World Championship gold in 1995 when in charge of Finland.
