Norway have very strict regulations when it comes to gambling, but it looks like the government is looking to relax them a little. The Culture Minister Thorhild Widvey has on behalf of the government made a proposition to allow regulated live poker tournaments in Norway from 2015.

It has been punishable with fines and in extreme cases jail to arrange poker games in Norway, but this is coming to an end if the game is regulated. Widvey states to FRP that she is working towards hosting the Norwegian Poker Championship in Norway in 2015, despite several warnings from anti-gambling institutions.

Poker will be regulated in terms of which types of tournaments that can be hosted, a max buy-in rule as well as a maximum prize pool, to avoid attracting the wrong crowd. Widvey doesn’t want to allow poker as a whole, but only wants to allow tournament poker in landbased clubs or casinos and they will have to obtain a license to be able to host the poker tournaments.