According to a press release from Boss Media President Peter Bertilsson this week, Svenska Spel, the Swedish state-owned gambling monopoly has been given the go-ahead by the Swedish government to start an internet poker service.
Boss Media, the company that will partner Svenska Spel in the venture has been awaiting the approval for several weeks (see earlier reports) Boss will now move ahead with arrangements to provide the “full scale poker system” to the Svenskaspel.se site.
However, Deputy Prime Minister Bosse Ringholm said that Svenska Spel would not be allowed to run internet casinos or betting exchanges. Ringholm, who is also gaming minister, justified allowing the poker service by saying that it wanted to channel internet gambling to organisations under the control of the Swedish state.
“We are breaking new ground together with Svenska Spel. Internet poker is a very successful product, and the state operators are all very strong in their national markets,” said Bertilsson.