Raha-automaattiyhdistys (RAY – the Finland Slot Machine Association) will be branching out into online poker soon, according to the Finnish minister for Sport and Culture, Stefan Wallin.
Speaking to the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat over the weekend, Wallin said he was confident that RAY, which is a state gaming monopoly, would launch an online poker site before the end of the year 2009. He revealed that RAY had completed all the necessary technical preparations to launch the service.
Raha-automaattiyhdistys is structured as part of a national monopoly owned by the government of Finland, where the gambling market is divided up among three governing bodies. RAY’s area of responsibility is casino games, slot machines and table games, and the revenue which it generates is channeled into social and health care bodies in the Nordic state.
Before RAY can move into the online poker milieu there will have to be some legislative changes expanding its mandate to cover Internet gambling.
Ålands Penningautomatförening (PAF), the gaming monopoly of the autonomous Åland Islands, has been taken to court by the Finnish government for marketing its online gambling offering to punters on the mainland.
GREEN TO HEAD UP CLARION SHOWS
Clarion Gaming appoints new Show Director
Clarion Gaming, which organises industry expo epics like ICE(i), has announced the promotion of Emma Green to the division’s post of Show Director. In her new post Green will be responsible for top international b2b exhibitions, events and conferences.
Selected from a large field of candidates, Green has worked on eight editions of the London Shows (ATEI and the International Gaming Expo, incorporating ICE and ICEi), as well as The Betting Show, having joined what was then BACTA-owned ATE Limited in October 2001.
Clarion Gaming Managing Director, Peter Rusbridge said: “There’s no doubt that Emma was the stand out candidate. She combines a detailed knowledge of the sectors that Clarion Gaming serves and is a highly skilled exhibitions professional. She has developed her knowledge base, which has been built over the last eight years, and provides the continuity of expertise that our customers across all sectors quite rightly expect from Clarion. She heads a skilled and experienced team which understands the business and has the expertise and the commitment to continue to deliver world class shows and events.”
“It’s a great honour to extend my involvement with leading events such as ATEI and IGE,” Green said. “Over the last eight years I have developed a great empathy with the sectors that we serve and the personalities working within them.”