“If if I were a minister and in the Finnish government, I would be specifically interested in money coming from abroad. ”
“It would be new money. Now we spin the same money from one pocket to another. ”
That’s what he says Kari Rajainmäki, who has worked for 20 years as a professional sports bettor and is thoroughly familiar with the European gambling industry.
Advocacy has become familiar through a position of trust. Rajainmäki is the chairman of the Finnish Sports Betting Association, and as a representative of the organization he has been giving opinions on the proposed reform of the Lotteries Act.
Rajainmäki has a master’s degree in energy technology. He says he is trying to approach the reform of the lottery law on a factual basis and with the coolness of a professional bettor.
The view is clear: the government’s proposal is “full comedy or farce”.
Lottery law was last changed in 2016 when Veikkaus, the Slot Machine Association (RAY) and Fintoto merged into one state gaming company.
Planning for the new renovation began soon after the merger.
Recently, politicians have justified the need to reform the lottery law by reducing gambling problems.
However, the government does not eliminate the worst cause of gaming disadvantages, ie the decentralized placement of gaming machines. Shops, petrol stations and bars may continue to have a large number of gaming machines, although the number has been reduced.
The reason for the status of gaming machines is obvious: they account for a large part of the revenue of the state gaming company Veikkaus, from which the ministries distribute their subsidies to social and health sector, culture, sports, science and youth work organizations, ie beneficiaries.
According to Rajainmäki, reducing gambling disadvantages is secondary in the state’s gambling policy. According to him, Finland is the only country in Europe where gambling policy is planned through beneficiaries.
“The problem arose when the bar in Veikkaus’ revenue was once set too high, up to a billion euros. But Veikkaus is not a money machine. It only spins Finnish money from one place to another. ”
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“Veikkaus is not a money machine.”
In recent years, the Finnish gambling debate has centered around Veikkaus’ gaming machines.
According to Rajainmäki, the entire lottery law reform project has been skewed from the beginning.
Other alternatives for organizing gambling, such as a licensing model such as Sweden and Denmark, were not even explored in Finland. Instead, the views of Veikkaus’ beneficiaries, ie those who benefit from gaming revenues, were widely heard.
“Roughly half of those who made a statement to the bill are beneficiaries. They know little about the gambling world. ”
Rajainmäki represents a few hundred Finns who make sports betting in their profession.
He ended up in the industry as if through a hobby 20 years ago. The name had accumulated in sports betting to the extent that he was recruited by the London Smartodds betting syndicate.
Outokumpu’s jobs as a graduate engineer were allowed to remain. First Rajainmäki worked from home, and then the whole family moved to London, where he spent about three years in a supervisory position and as a trader.
“A career at a big copper company in Outokumpu was damn boring at times. Sometimes as Monday approached, my mind started to turn black as early as the weekend. There has never been such a problem here. ”
For the past eight years, Rajainmäki has worked as an independent bettor at his home office in Sikamala, Sastamala.
He describes sports betting for stock market trading and analytical drilling without glory.
The work includes watching matches and analyzing game objects and backgrounds in order to obtain the most comprehensive information possible for the mathematically created background model.
On this basis, the aim is to find properties where it is profitable to invest.
“Comparing the odds is my real job, which is whether the odds given by the gaming company for the match are wrong.”
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A professional bettor seeks to predict on the basis of fact, not noise.
In the UK, gambling is organized by several companies. The gaming companies sponsor, among other things, English Premier League teams. West Ham’s Jarrod Bowen scored a goal against Brentford.
Rajainmäki reminds that sports bettors are not any “miraculous sages”, but it is a matter of assessing probabilities. A professional bettor seeks to predict on the basis of fact, not noise.
“Profits have to come a little more than losses. Sometimes there will be more losses but also longer winning tubes. ”
He calculates that he wins from one hundred bets 52-53.
“Even the syndicate sometimes took its beak, even though we had the best factors. Still, it could take a week or a month in the booklet. All in all, a and o have to be better in the long run. ”
Rajainmäki says he makes about a thousand bets a year, or about three bets per day. How much sums does he then move?
“If every hundred invested returns 102 or 103 euros, you can easily calculate the target bets from it, as long as you keep earning.”
Proposal to reform the lottery law, at least not directly destroy the Rajainmäki profession, but it does not make it any easier.
Rajainmäki is plucked by planned payment blocks aimed at making it more difficult for foreign gaming companies to gamble.
Gambling abroad is not prohibited in Finland, nor would it be in the new Lottery Act. However, payment blocks can make gaming more difficult.
Blocks can also lead to large foreign companies excluding Finnish players from the market just for the sake of certainty in order to avoid scrambling with the authorities.
“Finland is a small market, and there is no problem for large companies to exclude Finns. This is a real fear, and that would end the work. ”
The same threat also affects Finnish poker professionals.
“They, too, make money based on finding the right market online, with a large enough selection of tables.”
Veikkaus games do not offer items where a professional bettor could make an account.
“Our thin slice is based on the same as poker players. We get to choose from the best odds in the world, but we still make only a couple of percent return on our investment. ”
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Veikkaus games do not offer items where a professional bettor could make an account.
The Ice Hockey League is one of Veikkaus’ favorite sports series.
Rajainmäki believes that the licensing model will come to Finland as soon as politicians change into new generations.
Those who are at least curious about the licensing model can already be found in every party except the Demar.
Rajainmäki reminds that the old monopoly countries in Denmark, for example, have been very satisfied with the licensing model.
Nor would Veikkaus disappear anywhere in the license model but continue as an old player, a likely market leader.
“If foreign gaming companies were allowed to operate in the Finnish market, Finland would also receive a valid slice of tax revenue for the first time, clear banknote money,” says Rajainmäki.
“It is real money that comes to Finland from outside. It can’t be considered bad. ”
Read more: The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority made a proposal that would scrap Veikkaus’ special position
Read more: Jan Vapaavuori: Exercise and sports are completely innocent of the challenges related to Veikkaus
Read more: The gaming company is facing a worsening spiral: Two executives who have left Veikkaus tell us what is wrong with Finnish gambling policy
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