IS BETTING LEGAL IN NORWAY?

According to the three gambling regulations in Norway, Totalisator Act, The Gaming Scheme Act and The Lottery Act, betting is completely legal in Norway.

However, it is highly regulated. There are only two state-owned companies that hold licenses for legal gambling and that is Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. These two companies are the only two companies that can offer e.g. horse race betting, sports, lottery and other gambling activities on Norwegian soil.

Betting on the internet, however, is a whole other case! The most recent law from 2010 says that there is no problem betting over the internet, as long as they are located in another country.

This means that it’s completely legal to bet at bookmakers such as Unibet, Bet365 etc. (since their headquarters are in Malta).

It is however illegal for Norwegian banks to transfer money directly to casinos or betting companies, that is why this always goes through third parties such as Skrill or PayPal.

It is legal for Norwegians to bet online, you can choose to do whatever it is you want with both your time and money, it is however illegal for Norwegian banks to transfer money directly to foreign betting sites.

BETTING TAXES IN NORWAY

Regarding betting, taxes have been a never-ending question which people never seem to fully understand. It might seem complicated at first, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be, let’s simplify it for you. The main rule is that if you win a bet that exceeds 10,000 NOK* (kr) in profits, you will be taxed 28%.

*approximately €991

For example, let’s say the odds on Leeds United to beat Liverpool away in the FA Cup are 5.0, and you put 5,000 kr on Leeds. Let’s say they win, and you win 20,000 kr (5,000 kr x 5.0 = 25,000 kr, 25.000 kr – 5000 kr (your own money))= 20,000 kr), that means you will be taxed 28% of your winnings, which in this case would be 20,000 kr x 0,28 = 5600 kr.

If your winnings on a single bet is 20,000 kr, you have to tax 5600 kr of them, and you will only be left with 14,400 kr (20,000 kr - 5600 kr = 14,400 kr).

Remember that this rule only applies when you make over 10,000 kr on one bet, which means you can win 9,999 kr on every bet you make, without having to pay taxes.

There is one exception though; If you bet through one of the state-owned companies (Norsk Tipping or Norsk Rikstoto), there are no requirements to pay tax and all winnings are entirely tax free!

This link is a case from the Norwegian tax administration, where a guy had to pay taxes from his winnings over 10,000 kr.

Just as a disclaimer, we don't give legal advice, all this information is researched thoroughly, but please make sure you are following the right tax laws in your country.

BEST BOOKMAKERS TO USE IN NORWAY

When deciding which bookmakers to use, there are a couple of different things you must take into consideration, like the bookmaker’s margins, the customer service, the welcome bonus and so on. As a Norwegian citizen you can use a bunch of different bookmakers, here is a list of the bookmakers you can use:

Unibet, Marathonbet, SBOBET, Bet365, 12bet / Dafabet / Mansion88 / IBCBet, Coolbet, William Hill, Bwin, Betfair SB, 5 dimes, Nordicbet, 888, Betsafe, BETCRIS, Betsson Sportsbook, 188bet, BetVictor, Tipico/Rivalo, bookmaker.eu, Svenska Spel, Norsk Tipping, 32Red, 10BET, Betway, Ladbrokes, BetOnline, Expekt, Danske Spil, Partybets, Sportingbet, Coral, Intertops, Skybet, Leovegas, Sportsbet, Betfred, TonyBet, BETDAQ, Titanbet, Betdsi/Diamond sportsbook, Veikkaus, Bethard, Leonbets.com, Sportsbet.com.au, Sportium, Napoleongames, Ohmbet, PlanetWin365, Super Sport, 12bet, Scandibet, bookmaker.com.au, Giodigitale, Betfirst, iBet.Maxbet.rs, Cash Point, Dafabet, Island Casino, Roadbet, Rivalo, Gamebookers, Suertia, Vernons, Marcaapuestas, Betser.com, Allyoubet, Gazzabet, Oddsring, Sazka.cz, netbet.gr/ro/pt/co.uk, BetBright, Bets10game, 10bet.ie/co.uk. Ironbet, Triobet, Betmonsters. Winmaster.gr/ro, Redbet.

And yes, of course Trademate Sports covers every single one of them. This list might be a bit overwhelming, that’s why we will write more about 4 of the most popular ones.

Bet365: The biggest of all European bookies and the most visited one. Being the biggest they have a large selection of games, both pre-match and live betting, from numerous leagues and countries.

They have the biggest selection of niche sports, so if you’re into Gaelic sports, darts and surfing this is the site for you. The odds are not the best, and if you win a lot, they are unfortunately quick to limit you.

They have a pretty good sign-up bonus of up to a €100, which we will come back to later, and a good website for getting in a lot of value bets. You can use our Matched Betting software called Oddshero to turn over the Bet365 bonus for free!

Unibet: Founded in 1997 and has over 14 million users, which proves it’s a popular bookmaker. Same as with Bet365, they have a large selection of games from multiple leagues and nations, even though Bet365 is slightly bigger.

The website is easy to understand and navigate around, the odds are also quite good, and in many cases better than with Bet365. They have a couple of different sign-up bonuses, for example a £40 moneyback deal if you lose your first bet.

William Hill: Maybe the oldest one on the list, William Hill has been a part of the British gambling industry for around 80 years.

The easiest website to navigate around with so far and has a great statistics section which will make it easier as a customer to do research before a game. Odds aren't that good, and they can be slow to deposit money.

Coolbet: They have been awarded the best bookmaker in Norway for the last two years, and was created by the Norwegian pioneer Jan Svendsen, who has over 30 years of experience in the industry.

Coolbet’s mission is to take the betting industry into new directions, that’s why they try things that few betting sites has tried before them, such as using their own software.

They are not as big as the previous mentioned bookmakers, that’s why they don’t offer as many games in so many different countries. Good odds, and a great sign-up bonus of 2000NOK*.

*Approximately €199

BEST WELCOME BONUSES IN NORWAY

There is a lot to take into considerations when deciding which bookmaker to use, such as the bookmaker’s margin, the customer service, the welcome bonus and so on.

As a Norwegian citizen there are a bunch of different bookmakers you can use, send us a chat if you have any questions regarding bookmakers in your country!

Here are some of the most popular ones:

If you have any questions regarding bonus bets or sport betting in general, don’t hesitate to send us a chat!

SPORTS BETTING IN NORWAY

Sports betting is extremely popular in Norway and definitely more popular than you think. Data from 2015 says that over 2.2 million Norwegians spend money on some kind of betting or lottery, that’s almost half the country!

After the winnings are subtracted, Norwegians lose more than €1.1 billion on betting, that’s a loss of €250 from every single citizen. There is however a lot smaller amount of people that plays on foreign bookmakers, an estimated 250,000 people gamble with those foreign bookmakers.

Nevertheless, you could say that sports betting in Norway is extremely popular, so why not make a profit while doing it?

Want to know more about matched betting with our other software Oddshero? Check out this article here.