Kanuuna Casino is an online gambling site licensed by the Estonian government and focused on players in Finland as well. The site is available in just two versions, Finnish and Estonian, and is geo-blocked in many locations including Canada.

If you are already familiar with Casino Friday, then you already know what to expect in terms of banking, customer service, and several other elements of operation as they are sister sites operated by the same people and on the same license.

The site is operated by 1UP Services (CY) Ltd., of Cyprus under a license issued by the Estonian Tax and Customs Board.

You will need a Finnish or Estonian bank account in order to deposit or withdraw your winnings. However, unlike many “PayNPlay” online casinos, withdrawals are not always instantaneous here although they often pay out your profits right away.

Look for nearly 4,000 slots and other games from top-tier providers including live dealer streams from Ezugi and Evolution. All told, there are about 60 development studios with games on the menu. 

As mentioned, banking is restricted to those who possess Finnish or Estonian online bank accounts. Kanuuna uses Zimpler as its partner in Finland. Funds transfers are fast if your bank is Nordea, Osuuspankki, Säästöpankki, the Bank of Åland, or POP.

Estonian banking options include Swedbank, SEB, Luminor, Citadele, LHV, and Coop Pank. All transactions, deposits, and withdrawals are handled through Zimpler.

Players in Finland must be at least 18 years of age while Estonians will need to have reached the age of 21 in order to join the site and play for real money.

When we visited the site, Kanuuna was offering 200 FS to go along with your first deposit. The spins were to be meted out at a rate of 20 per day over the 10 days immediately following a deposit.

Each day offers a new game so new players can really get a taste of the variety and imagine how many more options are available in the vast games library.

All of the spins are free spins, which means they come with no wagering requirements.

While the game selection, as well as the welcome offer, can change, the following free games were on the menu when we visited:

• Day 1: Book of Tut
• Day 2: Jammin 'Jars 2
• Day 3: Money Train 2
• Day 4: Book of Oz
• Day 5: Razor Shark
• Day 6: Iron Bank
• Day 7: The Falcon Huntress
• Day 8: Ancient Fortunes: Poseidon
• Day 9: Vikings Go Berzerk
• Day 10: John Hunter and the Mayan Gods

We don’t find any limit on the amount that can be won from the free spins, but it would appear that once a withdrawal is requested, any remaining free spins from the deposit bonus will be forfeited.

While the present site was launched second (July 2021), the sister-site CasinoFriday has been online since October 2020 so if there was any cause for concern those issues will have bubbled to the surface by now. We don’t find any complaints about Kanuuna and only one about Friday. It may appear to be more at first glance but a closer look reveals that it seems to be the same player posting at multiple sites.

That issue was most likely resolved but neither the operator nor the player followed up to put a pin in it or to put the issue to bed. The player from Norway had difficulty getting paid. The terms and conditions now explicitly state that only those 18 years old or older that are located in Finland and those 21 and older in Estonia can register and play for real money.

If you’d like to play at one of these quality sites but don’t happen to be in Finland, please see our Casino Friday review for a great alternative! Either site would be an excellent choice for Finns.

Software and Games

The site is organized broadly in two ways. On the left column menu, players can deposit, continue playing, enter the random number generator animated lobby, or visit the Live games sections. The last choice in this menu is promotions.

The main lobby offers further choices such as popular games, slots, quick hits, board games, and all of the games. Below that is a text search box. I used it to find a list of Megaways slots by all providers and it showed me a few games I wasn’t familiar with yet. That’s one great thing about game developers working together - when a popular category like Megaways slots comes along, the inventory of games increases quickly because so many different studios are licensing the game mechanics and creating new games - or even revamping old games - based on the popular new features.

Several distinct sub-categories are found by scrolling down the pages. It’s more or less a courtesy from the developers who group games into themes and other attributes. This makes it much easier to select just the game you want from the vast inventory of titles available.

In addition to slots look for table games and card games in the board games section. Here, you’ll find  Blackjack, Roulette, Video Poker, Baccarat, Craps, and house-banked table poker.

Look in the “Instant Wins” section for an entire catalog of Spribe instant games. These games all offer above-average to high RTP. The games are quick and fun to play. The following titles are found here - Dice, Goal, Aviator (crash game), Keno, Mines, Plinko, Roulette, and HiLo.

You can try games for free without any risk. I don’t imagine there is a lot of middle ground among players - you are likely to love them or avoid them. I personally like the simplicity, speed, and high payback percentages.

Plinko is about what you would expect it to be mechanically, but it’s not a high-tech 3D rendition of Pachinko or any similar game. Bets range from 0.10 to 10.00 per round and the game can be played manually or in auto mode.

Choose your stake, the number of pins, and a color. The most difficult odds, thus the highest payouts are for red numbers with the outside pockets paying over 500x bet with the pins set to the most difficult configuration. The games have a ‘provably fair’ hash.

Live Dealer Games include the following and more:

• Live Baccarat
• Live Blackjack
• Live Sic Bo
• Live Craps
• Live Dice Duel
• Live Wheel of Fortune
• Live Casino Hold'em
• Live Lottery
• Live Caribbean Stud Poker
• Live Roulette

Evolution Gaming and its subsidiary, Ezugi - both licensed in multiple jurisdictions including Great Britain, provide a large portion of the live game library here. Pragmatic Play Live also offers tournaments and a good selection of live-streaming games.

Between the three premier live game providers here players will find well over 100 live tables. The live game lobby shows how many live tables are open for each provider. When we visited there were 44 tables free in the Pragmatic Play suite, 40 open tables hosted by Evolution, and 31 free live tables with the exquisite Ezugi hosts and hostesses dealing cards and spinning the roulette wheels.

Choose any one, two, or all three providers by selecting the brand name and only the games you want will be displayed.

In addition to the more serious floor games like baccarat, roulette, and blackjack, Pragmatic offers weekly Mega Wheel tournaments, Sweet Bonanza Candyland, an entire Game Show lobby, and several other tournament schedules.

Evolution continues to release new and exciting games all the time to enhance the classic casino gaming experience. Look for the huge community slot Gonzo's Quest Treasure Hunt, Crazy Time, the augmented reality bonus rounds of Monopoly Live, big payouts on the Mega Ball 100x, Dream Catcher, Sidebet City with multiple options in a social atmosphere, and Blackjack Party with unlimited bet behind opportunities.

Cash or Crash is a game for players with nerves of steel or those who know when to pull back half their profits. Bac Bo takes the essence of Baccarat and serves it up with dice to incorporate elements of Sic Bo. and Fan Tan Live will have its own niche of players.

Table games

Evolution not only provides live dealer streams but also offers high-definition 3D renditions of regular casino floor games that use a certified random number generator to determine the results of each round. These games are known as First Person titles and they all have a corollary in the live streaming suite. Players can play RNG games at their own pace and if the urge ever strikes to play the live version, simply select GO LIVE to be transported to a live version of the same game.

In this section, you will also find a good selection of video poker games, as well as multi-hand and single-deck blackjack, several baccarat variants, and multiple choices in roulette wheels, tables, and odds including American double-zero roulette.

Bonuses and Promotions

We’ve already mentioned the deposit welcome bonus of 200 FS with no wagering requirements or max cashout attached, but there is more. New games are highlighted and explained and special offers are often available. 

Earn points and level up just for playing your favorite games. Moving up a level will come with rewards such as free spins.

Banking and Customer Service

Nothing could be simpler here than Zimpler - no matter whether you are in Estonia or Finland. Click deposit, choose or key in an amount, select your Finnish or Estonian bank, log in through the secure Zimpler portal, authenticate your identity as per normal banking, confirm your deposit, and get ready to play! Withdrawals are processed the same way.

Kanuuna uses Zimpler as its partner for all players in Estonia and Finland. Funds transfers are fast if your bank is Nordea, Osuuspankki, Säästöpankki, the Bank of Åland or POP - deposits and withdrawals can be just as fast and efficient if you are in Estonia and use Swedbank, SEB, Luminor, Citadele, LHV, or  Coop|Pank. All transactions, deposits, and withdrawals are handled through Zimpler either way.

Pitfalls

• Single currency, no cryptos (EUR)
• Only two languages (Suomi, Southern Finnic/Estonian)
• Single payment gateway (Zimpler)
• Limited Bonus scheme

The Final Word

Players in Finland and Estonia can probably not go wrong with this choice, especially if they are not too concerned about ongoing deposit bonuses - but are happy with free spins and other perks when they level up in status. Finns and players in other areas who want to use other payment methods may want to explore the sister site, Casino Friday as it operates more in line with traditional online casino methods.

The game selection is great and the no wagering welcome spins are nice as well.

One of the most important considerations is of course the honesty, integrity, and transparency of an operator, and this site checks all the boxes.

The site functioned perfectly on my mobile device but became a bit obstinate in responding when I opened it on a low-power, fanless mini PC. The animations seemed to be too much for it and the CSS of the HTML5 made it so that I wasn’t able to even right-click to open a new tab or navigate away from any given page without multiple reloads.

Most players won’t have the same experience in that respect. Everything else, including fast game loads, seemed fine on either device.

Kanuuna is a perfectly fine casino for players in Finland. The license is superior to a Caribbean jurisdiction and perhaps as good as Malta. The operators are honest, transparent, and fair, and the game selection includes just about anything I could imagine wanting to play.