(commonly abbreviated Paf) is a gambling operator owned by the Government of

Åland Åland ( , ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland. Receiving its autonomy by a 1920 decision of the League of Nations, it is the smallest region of Finland by both area () and population (30,54 ...

, an autonomous region of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. The company offers gambling services online, on board cruise ships in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

, and through physical slot machines on Åland. Paf distributes its profits to public interest initiatives and operates under Finnish and Ålandic regulations.

History

Paf was founded in 1966 by a group of non-profit organisations in Åland, including , (Save the Children), the (Finnish Red Cross), and the foundation. The company began operating on Åland-registered ferries in the early 1970s, and launched its first online games in 1999. In 2015, Paf and Sunborn Hotel opened Casino Sunborn in

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. The casino was sold to Admiral in 2018. In 2021, the

Supreme Court of Finland The Supreme Court of Finland ( , abbreviated as ''KKO''; , abbreviated as ''HD''), located in Helsinki, is the court of last resort for cases within the private law of Finland (that is, civil and criminal cases). The Court's counterpart is the ...

sentenced Paf to a community fine of €250,000 in a case concerning negligent money laundering. In 2024, Paf announced a commitment to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, a target validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Operations

Paf provides gambling services online, on cruise ships, and through physical slot machines located on Åland. The company’s services are available internationally, excluding non-regulated markets.

Responsible gambling initiatives

Paf has introduced several measures related to gambling responsibility. In 2018, the company set an annual loss limit of €30,000 per customer. In 2019, this was lowered to €25,000 permanently. These measures are part of Paf’s approach to social responsibility, in line with its publicly owned status. The company monitors player behavior and collaborates with researchers at

Stockholm University Stockholm University (SU) () is a public university, public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, social ...

to study problem gambling. It also organizes a biennial Responsible Gaming Summit.

Awards and recognition

* 2014 – Social Responsibility Award, eGaming Review Operator Awards. * 2017 – Social Responsibility Award, eGaming Review Nordic Awards. * 2018 – Best Marketing Campaign, eGaming Review Nordics Awards. * 2018 – Named one of Finland’s 40 most inspiring workplaces by consulting firm Corporate Spirit Ltd.

References

External links