📋 Tender Overview
To make it easier to continue to have a legal offer for the poker NM in Norway the government has now made several changes to the regulations for the poker NM. The government also aims to change the regulations for poker games in private homes so that a maximum of 20 participants is allowed.In 2014 the government opened the possibility of arranging Norwegian championships in poker in Norway as well as for poker games in private homes. According to the Lottery Regulations the Norwegian Lotteries Authority may upon application grant one permit to hold an annual Norwegian championship. Experience from the first two permits that were granted shows that it is challenging to arrange the poker NM with a sound economy under current regulations.To make it easier to continue to have a legal offer for the poker NM in Norway the government is now changing the regulations. The changes are intended to give the organizer greater predictability and flexibility in the design of the events. And if the organizer manages to generate higher turnover it will also increase the payout to the good cause that receives part of the income from the poker NM says Minister of Culture and Gender Equality Abid Q. Raja.The Norwegian Lotteries Authority has on behalf of the Ministry of Culture consulted on the changes. The following changes are now stipulated in regulations to the law on lotteries about NM in tournament pokerThe length of the permit is extended from valid for three to five years. Experience from the first and current permit is that the organizer of the NM in tournament poker must make significant acquisitions in order to complete the event. Changing the duration of the permit contributes both to facilitating a better economy in the event and to the Lottery Authority having better time to become better acquainted with the organizers implementation and routines which will provide better and more effective supervision. In order to harmonize the regulations across different gambling games the deposit limit is changed to the loss limit in the poker NM. The maximum loss limit in the Norwegian championship is set at NOK 20000 and NOK 5000 in regional qualifying tournaments.The regulations have previously stated that participants who have been knocked out of a tournament will not be able to buy in again in the same tournament. Allowing players to make new deposits in the same tournament will make it possible to expand the offer of poker tournaments with new variations. Such tournaments will be able to make the event more attractive to more players and can thus increase the total number of participants in the Poker-NM. The Norwegian Lotteries Authority believes that an expansion of how players can dispose of their loss limit within the external safety net will to a small extent be able to increase the risk of gambling problems. The rules are therefore changed so that the player can make a new purchase in the same tournament provided that the player has not reached his loss limit. Only re-entry is allowed Poker consists of very many different disciplines and the restriction to allow only three different forms of tournament in the poker NM has now been removed. This has no effect on the risk of unfortunate gambling behavior as it does not affect the number of tournaments a player can participate in during the poker NM.Poker games in private homesIt is currently allowed to play poker in private homes with a maximum of 10 people in close contact when all participants are over 18 years the deposit per participant is a maximum of 1000 kroner it is not played on credit and completion of the lottery is not left to the assistant for a fee.The government aims to change the regulations for poker games in private homes so that a maximum of 20 participants in poker games in private homes are allowed. The reason for this is that the regulations must capture the unprofessional private poker game that takes place in Norwegian homes. The Norwegian Lotteries Authority regularly receives inquiries about whether it is okay for groups of friends of more than 10 people to play poker when for example. meet during vacations or holidays.We want a set of rules that sets clear boundaries for what is legal and illegal. There is a limit to when it is natural for the game to take place between people in close contact and the social aspect is the most important for the game and we therefore want to set the limit to a maximum of 20 players says Abid Q. Raja.
