Kasino Curt, a one time casino affiliate business, has been relaunched with a change of tack, after pressure from the Finnish police forced the site to be shut down at the end of last year.
With an initial focus of promoting online casinos to the Swedish market, Sami Helenius, an ex National Hockey League (NHL) professional and the brains behind the venture, has instead switched focus to popularise trips to land based casino.
The site was initially shut down after a clarification request was sent to Helenius, who has previously explained “Among other things, they wanted to know if Finns could gamble on the gambling sites we wanted to advertise in kasinocurt.com.
“Finland does not block gambling sites, so of course it’s possible. Finland defends its monopoly very, very aggressively, even when the “aggressor” is not targeting Finnish casino enthusiasts. This is very disappointing and frustrating, as I had big plans for Kasino Curt.”
In Finland Veikkaus, RAY and Fintoto hold exclusive rights to run gambling operations under the nation’s Lotteries Act, which brought the spotlight on Kasino Curt.
Detailing his change of focus, Helenius, known as “Fighting Finn” during his time as an NHL enforcer, commented: “First, I decided to quit my business, when the Police of Finland sent me a request for clarification.
“They suspected that Kasino Curt is marketing online casinos to Finns and Swedes. After reading their message I immediately understood that there was no way for me to convince them that we are not targeting Finns.
“Things have changed since. Now we are marketing to Finns, but we are not promoting online casinos. Kasino Curt is basically a Finnish website, which combines casinos with travelling. Perhaps we are going to get the content translated into other languages as well. Time will tell.
“In addition, we are also looking to outsource advertising sales and have been in touch with a couple of advertising sales agencies.”
