Finland Looking to Ban Online Poker

Yes, another country has it out for online gambling.  And like, the United States and the UIGEA, the proposed law in Finland would not ban online gambing outright, but rather, would eliminate it indirectly.

According to Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health commission a study by the University of Joensuu to come up with a way to protect children and addicts from online gambling.  The University’s solution: allow people to recoup their losses by simply getting a refund from the gambling company, the credit card company, or the poker player who won their money fair and square. 

Sound insane?  It is.  But it the Finnish government wants to make it happen.

Obviously, if the amendment to the current gambling law were to pass, online poker rooms would undoubtedly ban Finnish customers.  Accepting them would be an extremely risky proposition, as they could try to get their losses back directly from the poker room.  Now, the people who came up with the idea for amendment don’t yet know how to enforce it, but the fact that this is being taken seriously is scary enough.