The launch of the new online casino in Finland has been launched, due to – you’ll  never guess – red tape and slow-moving government bureaucracy. Raha-automaattiyhdistys (translates to the Finnish Slot Machine Association), also called RAY, intended to launch their online casino at the end of August, but last-minute changes caused a delay.

According to Kari Hyttinen, the head of RAY gaming operations, shortly before their scheduled August launch, government officials gave them new demands, including limits to how much money players can spend. Implementing the changes required could not be done in time for a speedy and safe launch (you don’t want to rush – see British Columbia’s PlayNow.com), the PLAY delayed the release of their online casino.

Among the changes officials gave to RAY is a daily limit of €500 on online slots, table games, and anything where the player is playing against a dealer or computer program. For games where players compete directly against other players, such as online poker, there is no spending limit unless the players impose that themselves.

RAY is a government-run monopoly that operates the only legal gambling in Finland and once their online casino launches, it will be the only legal online gambling website in Finland. After making the required chances, RAY now expects to launch the online casino in October.

Hyttinen told the Finnish media that she doesn’t expect the €500 wager limit to affect regular customers, who she believes generally bet less than that anyway. She does, however, worry that it will cause them to lose money from the occasional high-stakes games. The best solution would probably be to let each player set their own limits. That way, someone with less money could set a limit significantly lower than €500, but someone who has more money can set a higher limit. Since that wouldn’t involve government intervention, though, I’m sure Finland wouldn’t go for it.