A comprehensive study of 50 online casinos serving Finnish players has uncovered widespread discrepancies between advertised wagering requirements and what players actually need to stake to access their winnings. The findings arrive at a critical moment, with Finland set to abandon its Veikkaus monopoly and move to a licensed market from 1 July 2027.

The Hidden Math

Kasinohai’s researchers conducted real-money testing across the sample between mid-June 2026, claiming bonuses and carefully documenting the actual terms. What they discovered should concern any player planning a deposit.

The most significant finding: 44% of casinos calculated wagering requirements on the combined value of deposit and bonus, rather than the bonus alone. That’s not a minor detail. Take a straightforward example. A 100-euro deposit matched by a 100-euro bonus at an advertised 30x requirement should mean 3,000 euros in total stakes. But if the requirement applies to both amounts combined, you’re looking at 6,000 euros instead. That’s a doubling of the actual playthrough.

Making matters worse, a further 30% of operators didn’t bother clarifying which method they used in their terms at the point of claiming. Deliberately vague? Hard to say. But it certainly isn’t transparent.

Multi-Stage Bonuses Hide True Requirements

The study also flagged how multi-part welcome packages compound the problem. When bonuses are split across successive deposits, each carrying its own requirement, a package marketed as 20x to 30x can balloon to an effective 40x by the time you’ve completed all stages. That’s a real difference if you’re calculating whether a bonus is actually worth claiming.

Across the sample, requirements varied considerably. Around a quarter of casinos offered what Kasinohai considers favourable terms at 15x or below. But 38% sat at 40x or higher, with the remaining 38% offering 20x to 35x multipliers.

Betting Limits and Winning Caps Add Further Complications

The restrictions don’t stop at wagering requirements. Nearly half the casinos tested, 44%, didn’t specify maximum bet limits in their bonus terms. Where limits were stated, they typically hovered around 5 euros per spin. Breach that limit, and you risk losing your bonus and any winnings attached to it.

Bonus winnings caps were equally common, with 58% of operators imposing ceilings. Some of the lowest caps observed fell below 100 euros, meaning a player could generate winnings only to see them capped at a fraction of what they’d built up.

Game restrictions also featured prominently. Three-quarters of operators excluded certain games from wagering contribution, with live casino notably contributing nothing at around a third of sites tested. Then there were eight casinos with no time limit whatsoever to complete the requirement, potentially leaving players in limbo.

Context Matters

Worth knowing: Kasinohai selected these 50 casinos from operators on its own comparison site rather than sampling at random. Many hold licences in Curaçao, Malta, Anjouan and Estonia and are unlikely to apply for Finnish authorisation once the new regime begins. The findings are also a snapshot in time, covering welcome bonuses only, and don’t identify individual operators.

The timing is significant. Finland’s Gambling Act (Rahapelilaki 10/2026) will prohibit new customer bonuses entirely once licensed operations begin. Jari Vähänen, co-founder at The Finnish Gambling Consultants, noted that this restriction creates particular difficulty for digital casino operations, especially given the simultaneous ban on affiliate marketing.

For now, this study provides an empirical record of how bonus mechanics operated before reform. That data will prove valuable when assessing whether the new licensing system achieves its goals around channelisation and responsible play. Vähänen suggested that if the market performs well and problem indicators remain low, regulators may look at relaxing restrictions in future, potentially reintroducing affiliates or bonuses.

The full findings, dataset and methodology are publicly available in Kasinohai’s June 2026 bonus terms study.

What the team thinks

Sheena McAllister says:

Baz has highlighted a genuinely concerning issue that regulators across Europe, including our own UKGC, have grappled with for years, and Finland’s upcoming transition from monopoly to licensed market makes this timing particularly crucial. What I’d add is that this study underscores why pre-market licensing frameworks must include mandatory bonus transparency standards and real-money testing protocols before operators go live, rather than relying on post-launch enforcement. The Finnish regulator has an opportunity here to embed these protections into their initial licensing conditions, which could actually set a gold standard that goes beyond what we’ve achieved in established markets like the UK.