The move to fully legalise internet gambling across the country is set to take two years to implement and the first step, completed in January, now permits punters to legally place bets at online gambling sites whose servers are situated within Estonian borders. Phase two of the operation, which will allow foreigner online sites to accept bets from Estonian nationals, is set to come into effect in 2011.
The first site to officially go live is being run by the Olympic Entertainment Group which has a number of land based casinos in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia. The site will be powered by one of the largest software providers in the industry, Playtech, and will offer players more than 150 games.
The new site will also incorporate Estonia’s first online poker site which will run through the popular European platform, iPoker. While some Estonians have been placing online wagers through foreign for a few years this new online casino will be the first official one in the country and will open up the market to a whole new demographic.