18-year age limit for gambling machines

Finnish government agreed on a bill to amend current gambling legislation to protect the under aged. The bill would increase the age limit for using gambling machines to 18.

The proposal would include a one-year transition period implementation of the new age-limit for some automatic gambling machines.

Currently the age limit is 15 for using gambling machines and participating in games of chance provided by Veikkaus, the state betting and lottery organization.

Enforcement of the age limit and supervision of the premises where gambling machines are used would be the responsibility of representatives the gambling industry. Failure to enforce the age limit could lead to prosecution.

The bill also calls for marketing messages not to target the under aged. The President will read the bill before Parliament next week.