Following news of rising levels of gambling addiction amongst Swedish online poker players, Svenska Spel’s expansion plans for their own internet poker product have been rebuffed by the Swedish government.

Sweden is currently considering reforms to its gambling legislation, including more stringent advertising restrictions and blocking measures. Sweden's gambling regulation will again come under scrutiny in January when two high profile advertising prosecution referral cases will be heard in the ECJ.

Swedish monopoly gaming operator Svenska Spel is combining psychology, artificial intelligence and behavioural science in a high tech effort to prevent its customers gambling too much but critics are questioning the value of a system that, above all, aims to keep players playing.

Quebec’s finance minister insists Loto-Quebec should be allowed to participate in a pan-Canadian online poker offering, despite criticism from local health officials, who are calling for a review of the plans.

Swedish monopoly operator Svenska Spel has withdrawn its bid to develop a range of online casino games as the Swedish government wishes to avoid any further controversy whilst a review of gambling legislation in Sweden is conducted.

PokerStars is believed to have gained a significant foothold in Sweden's online poker market while state-owned monopoly Svenska Spel joined Nordic rivals in reporting a sharp drop-off in poker revenues during 2009.

Austrian lottery and casino operators Österreichische Lotterien and Casinos Austria have said that their state-owned online poker room, operated in conjunction with Sweden’s Svenska Spel and Boss Media, will go live within months. According to Boss Media’s CEO, more government-controlled operators will soon follow suit and embrace online gambling – and a debate in the Dutch Parliament at the end of January could determine whether Holland Casino could be next.

A landmark seminar held in Helsinki last week emphasised the pivotal role of internet poker in the debates surrounding possible gambling reform in Finland. But while established Finnish gambling brands are poised to gain most from licensing, experts stressed that the government would be hard pressed to impose a blanket ban on foreign sites under forthcoming legislation.

Sweden’s Svenska Spel has threatened to launch a civil action against UK bookmaker Ladbrokes over an advertising campaign the state-owned operator alleges to be in violation of the Svenska Spel trademark. Public prosecutions for gambling advertising may currently be on hold amidst ongoing legal uncertainty in Swedish courts, but Svenska Spel’s threat suggests that private operators may face continued difficulty as they look to exploit their new-found freedom.

A Harvard Medical School study into the habits of thousands of Bwin customers found that 5 percent of online casino players demonstrated signs of problematic gambling behaviour, compared with just 1 percent of sports bettors in a previous study. Bwin says the findings will assist in the launching of an automated warning system over the coming months, but they may also face political repercussions in a pan-European context.