WINNING FORMULA The Finnish slot machine association RAY has the exclusive right to operate slot machines and casino games in Finland. All the proceeds are used to support Finnish health and social welfare organisations.
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or decades, gambling in Finland has been strictly regulated. RAY (Raha-automaattiyhdistys) was founded in 1938. Its monopoly over slot machines throughout the country was granted by the Finnish state. Today the company controls the distribution of slot machines in Finland’s cafés and amusement arcades. RAY collects the revenue from the slot machines and pays rent to those owners of amusement arcades and restaurants who have installed slot machines on their premises. After RAY has paid all its overheads, the money left over is used for charitable purposes. Every year, money from RAY reaches around 800 Finnish charities, including those 156 Industry Europe
for the rehabilitation of war veterans and for the care of disabled war veterans in nursing homes. Other beneficiaries include charities like the Finnish Association for Mental Health.
Activities There is much more to RAY than just a grantawarding public body. Before any profits can be spent, RAY’s staff have to work to generate the revenue. Its headquarters are in Espoo, near Helsinki, and it employs 1600 people. The scope of the organisation covers the whole of the country, so many of the employees work outside the head office. These include the dealers who supply slot machines
to restaurants and amusement arcades all over Finland. It also operates 70 gaming arcades of its own, and even runs a casino, the Grand Casino Helsinki. The casino in Helsinki, which generates about four per cent of RAY’s annual revenue, is the only legal casino in the whole of Finland. Slot machines often have to be replaced to meet changing tastes. Its slot machines have an average working lifetime of six years before they are replaced. It buys between 2000 and 3000 new slots every year. The company has stopped making its own machines, and instead it uses subcontractors, but most of the games on the slots are its own designs. RAY
