Casino without Swedish license

A casino without a Swedish license is an online gambling operator without permission from the Swedish gambling authority.
Most European online casino markets has gone through new gambling regulations that changes which and and what casinos every gambler can play on. Naturally, online gamblers and players seek out the best offers and the best opportunities when it comes to online casinos. It’s all about incentives, really. Online gambling is huge in practically every European country and Scandinavia, with Sweden in particular, is no exception to this rule.

After the gambling regulation back in 2018/19, a large portion of Swedish gamblers started to choose casinos without Swedish license instead of the new licensed Swedish casinos.

Here we’ll go through what these changes of incentives for Swedish players lead to and how Swedish players still can play on new casinos without Swedish license in 2023.

New casinos without Swedish license 2023

What does Swedish casinos lack compared to casinos without Swedish license?

When the online casinos became regulated in Sweden, the authorities made it clear that the newly licensed Swedish casinos had to abide by some new rules. The most notable rules included:

• Limited casino bonuses
• Deposit limits
• Central self exclusion register

These three limitations made it very difficult for licensed casinos to keep the Swedish players interested and here’s why.

Limited casino offers

So the casino bonus limitations works in two different ways. One is actually no longer active and was active only during the covid outbreak. It worked as measure against the increased online gambling during the pandemic. During that time, each and every casino bonus offered by Swedish casinos was limited to a maximum of 100kr (ca €10) per player. When added to the current and on-going bonus offer limitation, there’s really no wonder Swedes decided to play elsewhere.

The on-going bonus limitation works like this:

1. Every online casino licensed in Sweden can only offer one casino bonus per registered player. This means that a Swedish player can only receive one bonus per casino. So there are no re-charge bonuses, extra free spins , VIP-offers etc.
    
2. Since multiple casinos can be on the Swedish casino market using he same license number, all players have to choose which one of those casinos they want to get the bonus from. So even if there are 12 different casinos with 12 different casino bonuses but they are all active under the same license, every player will only be able to use one bonus from one of those casinos. Not a great deal to be honest.

Deposit limits

Then we have the deposit limits that also was introduced during the pandemic. These deposit limits made sure that every Swedish player couldn’t make any deposits over 2000kr per week to a casino. This particular deposit limit is no longer active, but it made a lot of Swedish players reconsider other casinos without license from Sweden.

It is also still mandatory to set one’s own deposit limit when playing. These limits can be changed by the player but not so that he/she can deposit more than the current limit set.

Self exclusion

In order to make all licensed casinos safe for Swedish players, the new regulation forced a self exclusion option to be available on every online casino. The self exclusion options is available for any player who wants to exclude him or herself from gambling on all licensed casinos and betting sites. That means that the self exclusion blocks you from playing on any online casino, and not just on the one you blocked yourself on. 

The self exclusion register is a centralised system controlled by the Swedish gambling authority, Spelinspektionen. Whenever a Swedish player creates an account with a Swedish casino, the casino has to verify with the self exclusion register to make sure that the player is not on it and therefor not eligible to play.

However, every casino without Swedish license doesn’t abide by these rules, naturally. Hence, self excluded players can still play on any unlicensed casino.

How Swedish players can play on unlicensed online casinos

But how can Swedish players play on casinos without Swedish license if the casinos themselves doesn’t have a license? The answer is actually quite simple and a little bit silly. 

Since the regulation focuses on and regulates the supply side of the casino market, and not the demand side, Swedish players, as in Swedish nationals, are free to play wherever they want to play. They can play on a Swedish casino or on a casino without the Swedish license, or on a MGA casino or on Curacao casino without any problems. However, the question remains;

What kind of casinos will Swedish players find online?

This is where the regulation makes itself known in a more significant way.

Casinos without Swedish license are not allowed to seek out Swedish players

One of the main things with the new gambling regulation in Sweden is that every casino without Swedish license cannot market its gambling platform towards Swedes. But this is the internet, so how do you control that?

So, to answer that, the Swedish gambling authorities decided that if any content on the online casino platform was in any way made references to Sweden, it was to be seen as marketing towards swedes. That is, if the site content is written in Swedish, if there is a Swedish flag somewhere on the site or if bonuses are presented in Swedish crowns (SEK), then it is considered to be directed towards Swedish players. Which is understandable.

So when an online casino without Swedish license is caught any of the things mentioned above the Swedish gambling authorities will fine them and the responsible gaming company.

Casino without Swedish license accepting Swedish players 

An interesting situation occurs when Swedish players finds an online casino without Swedish license that doesn’t seek out to get Swedish players in the first place. Since Swedish players can play and gamble on whatever casino they want, and the majority of casinos without Swedish license do abide by the Swedish regulation, there’s no real issue if the two parties meet.

And so, if a Swedish players goes on Google and searches for online casinos in any language but Swedish, he will certainly find casinos that doesn’t have the Swedish license and that doesn’t seek out to get Swedish players. In this case it’s really up to the casino if it wants to accept player or not. In reality the casino hasn’t done anything wrong. 

However, many of these casinos do not accept Swedish players, but those who do accept them are completely open for Swedes to play at. Just as if it was a licensed casino. 

Player consequences of playing at a casino without Swedish license

Now that we have established that Swedish players can play at casinos without Swedish license, we should consider if it is actually makes any sense to do so. Is it really that much better than playing at a Swedish casino? And are there really no side effects when playing at a casino without a Swedish license? Of course there is!

The main consequence, or side effect, when playing on unlicensed casinos in Sweden is the added taxation on winnings. In general, when Swedish players bet and gamble on Swedish casinos, all winnings are tax free. That is, you get to keep every Swedish crown you win. This also goes when playing and winning on other European online casinos that are located in a EU/EEA country. This fact creates yet another interesting situation.

Now we realise that there can be online casinos without Swedish license from other EU/EEA countries that Swedish players can play at tax free. However, if they would play at an online casino without Swedish license based in a country outside the EU/EEA, we would have an other situation completely. It’s a bit tricky to wrap one’s head around this, so lets dive into some practical examples:

The casino is licensed in Sweden

When the online casino is licensed in Sweden it is pretty straight forward. This is not when the rule book gets tricky. When the online casino is licensed in Sweden it doesn’t matter where the online casino Is located. It could be from anywhere in the world but since it has a license, the casino will be paying taxes on its business activities in Sweden and on the Swedish iGaming market. The players will not pay a single cent, or öre in this case, in taxes if they win on the casino.

The casino is not licensed in Sweden — inside EU/EEA

The killer combo that a lot of Swedish casino aficionados are looking for is this one. When the casino is located and licensed in an EU/EEA country, but not licensed in Sweden. That’s when the golden combo is made for several Swedish players. Why? Because this is when Swedish players can take part of all interesting offers and bonuses that’s otherwise prohibited on Swedish casinos, yet still pay 0% tax on their winnings.

Example: A casino without Swedish license but with a Maltese license (MGA license) gets visited by a Swedish player without actively seeking him out. Remember, if the unlicensed casino doesn’t aim to attract Swedish players, yet receives Swedish players because the Swedish players finds the unlicensed casino by there own, the unlicensed casino does nothing wrong. And since the casino is located and regulated in another EU/EEA jurisdiction, the Swedish player won’t pay any taxes on his wins.  

The casino is not licensed in Sweden — outside EU/EEA

This is the big no-no for all Swedish players. At least it should be. When the casino without Swedish license is located outside the EU/EEA area all Swedish players are bound to pay around 22% of their winnings in tax. And when this fact is combined with the other fact that these types of foreign online casinos have a higher risk of being shady and scam-like, it’s better if all players and gamblers simply stay away.

How to sign up at casino without Swedish license – Step by step

So now that you know more about how it works with online casinos without Swedish license and wants to try it out, this short step-by-step guide will help you through the sign up basics of most online casinos of this kind.

Best casino without Swedish license online

Most casinos with or without Swedish license could almost be considered interchangeable since all online casinos pretty much are on the same level when it comes to user experience etc. But if you want to find a casino that eventually could be considered to be the best casino without Swedish license, we’d highly recommend you to follow our list here below and make sure that the casino you are researching tick all the boxes.

• Make sure the unlicensed casino has some kind of pay n play solution – Easy transactions and registration processes makes the gambling experience so much more enjoyable. You want to play when visiting an online casino, not fill out forms.
  
• See that there is no Swedish content, currency or Swedish customer service on the entire website – If you aim at playing at an online casino without Swedish license, you’d better be sure that it doesn’t break the marketing rules.
  
• Low minimum deposit level – Surely, the best casino without Swedish license allows its players to play for a low amount of money.
  
• Bonuses with low/no wager requirement – If casino bonuses and special offers are important to you, then you should make sure that the best casino without Swedish license offers bonuses with very low, or no, wager requirements.
  
• Vast game selection – Make sure that you can look through the slot selection and other casino game categories before registering. This way, you can make sure that the unlicensed casino has a vast game selection with a lot of casino games to choose between. This makes it more fun and easier for you as a player to find good games to gamble on.
  
• Non-shady payment methods – Last, but not least, make sure that the casino without Swedish license offer multiple ways of making your deposits and withdrawals. Mastercard and Visa are common and secure ways to name a couple.

Going by this template above, some of the following casinos could be considered to be the best casino without Swedish license:

(Table)

Secure payment providers for deposits and withdrawals from casinos without Swedish license

One of the most crucial parts of playing at any online casino is the deposits and withdrawals. It’s during these actions we want the highest level of security and safety. The best way to make sure that the casino is secure and safe regarding these types transactions is to scan the casino site and look through its payment solution providers. Here are the most common and safe payment providers on casinos without the Swedish license:

1. VISA / Mastercard – Internationally renown payment provider via which you can make deposits on debit. (Very few casinos accept deposits made on credit).
   
2. Klarna – A buy-now-pay-later service that sort works like a credit card but is not a credit card.
   
3. QIWI Europe – E-wallet that works in a very similar way to Revolut, Transferwise and many other neobanks and e-wallets.
   
4. Zimpler – One of the first E-wallets. Very secure although declining in popularity among online casino operators.

Casinos without Spelpaus

One of the most negative things about every casino without Swedish license is that they all are casinos without Spelpaus, i.e. without the official self prohibiting tool in Sweden.

What is Spelpaus?

Spelpaus is the centralised self blocking tool that Swedish players can use to block themselves from play on Swedish casinos. If a Swedish player blocks himself, then he won’t be able to login or register on any Swedish casino. Every time anyone signs up och tries to login on a licensed casino, the casino automatically checks with the Spelpaus register to see if it can accept the player to play or not. The pause time or block time can be set to 3, 6 or 12 months, or indefinite with a minimum amount of 12 months. When the pause has ended, the player is free to gamble again.

Spelpaus on unlicensed casinos

Since casinos without Swedish license doesn’t need to be affiliated with the Swedish spelpaus, any player who has blocked himself on it can play. It doesn’t matter if the block is set for 3 months or 5 years. He’ll still be able to play how often as he would like.
This means that if a player blocked himself by mistake, he can choose unlicensed casinos instead until the block is lifted. 

Ways to block yourself from play on casinos without Swedish license

If you want to block yourself from gambling on unlicensed casinos, you will have to use alternative gamble block providers. Here are some of the most common gamble blocks for unlicensed casinos in Sweden:

1. Gamblock – This service costs around 180kr per month and will block any attempt to enter an online casino. It will even block you if you try to gamble via a VPN.
   
2. Betblocker – This block service is free of charge and once installed on every unit you use, it will block you from entering up to 15000 different gambling websites.
   
3. Gamban – Gamban is an app that can be installed on any device and costs around 30kr. It’ll block you from entering over 60000 different gambling related websites and has one week free trial from the start.

Pros and cons of casinos without Swedish license

Here are the most obvious pros and cons of playing on a casino without the Swedish gambling license as a Swedish player:

Positives

Unlimited amount of casino bonuses, VIP-programs and other types of offers, specials and bonuses.

No restrictions on deposit amounts and withdrawals.

Lots of payment providers to choose between

Crypto currency friendly

Always available

Negatives

Difficult to regulate ones own gambling

Difficult to weed out the reliable payment providers.

Tedious registration processes

Summary of the casino without Swedish license experience

Now you are ready to search out any casino without Swedish license and exactly know what to expect. If you don’t remember all of it, we’ve got you covered! Here are the key takeaways from this article:

1. There are mainly no restrictions when playing on a casino without Swedish license
   
2. Unlicensed casinos can accept Swedish players and do so rightfully if they do not actively seek out to get Swedish players or market the casino with any Sweden related content.
   
3. All profits made by a Swedish player on an unlicensed casino are tax free as long as the online casino is from a EU/EEA country.
   
4. Most deposits are made with VISA or Mastercard.
   
5. Spelpaus doesn’t work on casinos without Swedish license.