News writer, Interviewer
What happens when an 80-year gambling monopoly makes a coding error that costs millions? Norwegian state-owned lottery giant Norsk Tipping just found out.
The Norwegian Lottery Authority slammed Norsk Tipping with a NOK 10 million ($1 million) fine for a system flaw that sent false winning notifications to 30,000 players. The penalty represents just 0.1% of the company's 2024 turnover, but the damage to trust runs far deeper.
The algorithm that broke trust
The error stemmed from faulty code in Norsk Tipping's gaming system. A simple conversion algorithm incorrectly calculated prize winnings from Eurocents to Norwegian kroner. Instead of dividing by 100, it multiplied by 100.
The result? Thousands of Norwegian residents received SMS notifications claiming they had won prizes they never earned. Out of 47,000 contacted players, 30,000 got incorrect winning alerts.
Anya Therese Markhus, senior advisor at the gambling authority, said, "Norsk Tipping has violated the Gambling Act. People should be able to trust their games. The fact that several thousand players receive a notice of excessive winnings is clearly harmful to trust."
Leadership shakeup follows scandal
CEO Tonje Sagstuen stepped down in June 2025 as the full scope of the company's control failures became clear. The departure marked a turning point for the government-owned operator that has dominated Norwegian gambling since 1948.
Atle Hamar, Director of the Lottery and Foundations Authority, didn't mince words about the breach. "Players should be able to trust Norsk Tipping, and this is a serious breach of trust."
Monopoly under fire
The crisis has sparked broader questions about Norsk Tipping's 80-year monopoly on Norwegian gambling. Carl Fredrik Stenstrom, Secretary General of the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gambling, took to X with a pointed observation: "Norsk Tipping has had a monopoly on gambling for almost 80 years. Now trust is at a historic low, and they have made too many mistakes to be able to have the market alone."
Pattern of problems
This latest fine isn't an isolated incident. Earlier investigations revealed additional system failures that cost the company NOK 46 million ($4.5 million) in fines for flaws in Eurojackpot extra draws and Lotto super draws.
The problems extend beyond prize calculations. A March 2025 report found players couldn't self-exclude from gambling apps on iPhone and tablet devices for four months. One player mistakenly received NOK 25 million ($2.4 million) on KongKasino.
What's next for Norway's gambling giant?
Norsk Tipping has three weeks to respond to the million-dollar fine or face further action from regulators. The company has attempted to contact affected bettors and address system errors, but rebuilding trust may prove more challenging than fixing code.
Markhus summed up the regulator's concerns: "These cases show a fundamental problem in Norsk Tipping's systems and controls. These are serious errors, and in addition, there are several examples of Norsk Tipping not having discovered them before the consequences were major."
The investigation continues, though regulators remain uncertain about timelines for evidence collection or final decisions. What's certain is that nearly eight decades of monopoly status no longer guarantees public confidence in an industry built on trust.
Can a government-owned gambling operator that has dominated Norwegian gaming since 1948 recover from its string of costly mistakes? The answer may determine whether Norway's gambling landscape remains unchanged or opens to new competition.
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