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Norway proposes online poker for a country’s monopolist with 64.6% BAP
Oslo wants the state operator to take poker that now sits on unlicensed sites.
On 29 September 2026 the Ministry of Culture and Equality opened a consultation on changes to the gambling regulation. The draft would give Norsk Tipping the exclusive right to offer online poker. Responses close on 29 November 2026.
Norsk Tipping is the only legal iGaming operator in Norway.
A 2022 University of Bergen survey, cited by the ministry, put annual play at foreign operators near 90,000 people. Norsk Tipping estimates 100,000–150,000 players a year.
Legal poker in Norway is limited to home games and one annual championship.
Blask data shows how much Norwegian demand already sits outside that exclusive remit. From September 2025 to September 2026 the company was the entire onshore search set. The remainder sat with offshore names. CEB in Norway is more concentrated onshore — 72.2%.
The ranking behind Norsk Tipping is an offshore list. Online poker accounts for 14.7% of non-branded category demand in the same window (September 2025–September 2026), with no licensed product attached to it.
Until the regulation is in force and a live product exists to match it, more than a third of Norwegian brand search stays with offshore names.