The ‘Fighting Finn’ who launched a casino affiliate website a matter of weeks ago, has had to walk away from his venture following police intervention.
Sami Helenius, an ex-National Hockey League (NHL) enforcer, formerly of Calgary Flames, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks, unveiled ‘Kasino Curt’ in October.
Speaking of the legal problems encountered, Helenius said: “I decided to quit my business, when the Police of Finland sent me a request for clarification. They suspected that we are really marketing to Finns, not to Swedes.
“After reading their message I immediately understood that there was no way for me to convince them that we are not targeting Finns. Among other things, they wanted to know if Finns could gamble on the gambling sites we wanted to advertise in kasinocurt.com.
“Finland does not block gambling sites, so of course it’s possible. Finland defends its monopoly very, very aggressively, even when the “aggressor” is not targeting Finnish casino enthusiasts. This is very disappointing and frustrating, as I had big plans for Kasino Curt.”
Helenius named his site after Swedish hockey coach Curt Lindström, who in 1995 won World Championship Gold with Finland, was to run his site from his native country, but was to target Swedish casino enthusiasts.
Gambling operations in the Scandinavian nation are run by three organisations, RAY, Fintoto and Veikkaus, who merged earlier this year, under the direction of the Finnish Lotteries Act.
Despite no marketing materials being published within Finland, in order to avoid legal problems, Helenius stated he had no other choice but to leave the casino affiliate business when the police came knocking.
