Is Online Gambling Legal In Poland

Casino-style games online. The only form of online gambling services currently legal in Poland is online betting. The Amendment will allow providing also casino-style games online, however subject to monopoly by a state-owned operator (Totalizator Sportowy Sp. The opening of the Polish online gambling market is progressing as a draft amendment to Poland’s gambling law was adopted by the country’s Parliamentary Senate last week. DLA Piper reports a Polish Government representative indicating two additional amendments in the pipeline concerning a change in the regulation of poker and the.

No online casino software solutions for gaming sites in Poland are allowed yet, but online sports betting is legal in the country since 2011. Even so, only four sports betting operators run their businesses in the Polish gaming market, mainly because of the restrictive regulatory framework.

Amends in Poland's Gambling Act are set to allow EU and EFTA operators to offer services within Poland provided they open actual offices inside the country.

The Polish Government andits people are nowadays engaged in a bugging affair which unleashed a politicalcrisis in the country. However, before that happened, some good news for onlinegambling came out of the country's Ministry of Finance only three weeks ago.

Gambling Act Changes

The Polish Ministry ofFinance has published a project which is set to amend the country's GamblingAct. The changes touch subjects like betting sites and charity lotteries, butthe biggest change which is related to the iGaming world is the ministry'sintention to allow companies from EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association)to operate gambling businesses inside Poland. While this signals agenerally very positive move towards aligning with EU gambling regulation laws,the set changes will set one obstacle in the paths of interested gamblingoperators: they would have to open an office in Poland itself.

Missed Tax Revenues

The projectedalterations to the Polish gambling laws, if they will be enacted, are notsurprising due to the country's estimated missed revenues due to its gamblingrestrictions: About PLN 600 million which amounts to approximately €142million. Poland is missing out on a big chunk of the action, as seen byestimates by consulting firm Roland Berger which valued the country's onlinegambling market at PLN 4.9 billion back in February (a little over €1 billion).The same report estimated that with things as they are in the present, Polandis seeing just 9% of this potential amount in income from the four Polishoperators which hold online betting licenses.

With the country in apolitical crisis, the future of Poland's Gambling Act remains to be seen. If itdoes go further, it will be interesting to see how operators tackle therequirement for opening an office inside the country itself.

See also

Poland Contemplates Changing of Gambling Laws

Dust Settles on Poland's Recent Gambling Ban

End of Danish Online Gambling Monopoly

Before opening an online project, every operator primarily asks the question: what market to choose? Where can I operate freely, and where do I need to go through the licensing procedure?

Slotegrator examined this question. Our experts prepared a list of countries where online gambling operation is legal.

To make it even more convenient, we sorted them by continents. It includes not only those countries subject to certain requirements and where online gambling is regulated by law. There are also those countries where online gambling is neither regulated nor prohibited.

Online gambling availability in the World 2020

Depending on different approaches to gambling regulation in the world, all countries are divided into 4 groups.

Is Online Gambling Legal In Poland Now

Countries where foreign online casinos are not blocked:

The local regulators do not apply any legislative requirements in these countries. Foreign gambling sites can be licensed in any jurisdiction or generally operate without it.

However, it should be noted that gambling is not necessarily legal in these countries.

For example, the Cayman Islands completely prohibit gambling, while the local residents are liable for participation in gambling. The fact that foreign online casinos are not blocked now can only be explained by the inability of regulator to do this. And if the online gambling is not legalized, blocking of foreign sites is just a matter of time.

Countries where gambling websites must be licensed by the local regulator:

These countries use the most competent approach to online gambling regulation. Each operator (whether it is local or foreign) must acquire a license and fulfill certain legal requirements. Conditions are equal for all. Everyone is obliged to pay taxes to the budget. Only in this case, the operator has the right to work legally. Otherwise, the online resource will be blocked.

The following countries require a license of the local regulator only for the local gaming sites. Foreign platforms can work without it:

As in the first group, these countries do not apply any legal requirements to foreign sites. A foreign operator may be licensed in any jurisdiction and, in some countries operate without it at all. However, all local casino owners are required to undergo the licensing procedure of the local regulator and to pay taxes to the local treasury.

The following countries have no restrictions for the gambling sites at all:

This is the largest group of countries. Many of them do not regulate gambling activities at all.

Online gambling laws around the world

Today almost every country has its own rules regulating the land-based gambling. However, the situation with online gambling is more ambiguous. As can be seen, the attitude towards local and foreign operators differs fundamentally from country to country.

In the European Union, for example, the operators of the foreign gambling sites are subject to the requirements of the EU law. However, not all countries agree that foreign operators don’t pay taxes to the local treasury. Contrary to the requirements of the EU, they put the foreign operators under own regulations forcing them to obtain a local gaming license and pay taxes to the local budget. Among these countries France, Germany, Italy, etc.

The second reason for the different attitudes to local and foreign operators is that many countries (especially those not technologically advanced) simply do not have the resources or tools to prevent foreign companies from operating in their territories.

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Summing up the availability of online gambling around the world:

• 32 countries prohibit the local operators from working without a license, but those gambling sites that operate from abroad can easily offer their services to local residents. Among them, the following countries: Seychelles, Armenia, Dominican Republic, Greece, Monaco, Norway, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.
• 32 countries allow online gambling only with the local license. For example, Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, the UK, the Netherlands etc.
• 28 countries prohibit locals from gambling and block sites of local gambling operators. However, foreign platforms can work freely, even if they have no license. These states are either unwilling or are not able to prevent them. For example, Australia, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico, Japan, Singapore, Nigeria, etc.
• 93 countries do not prohibit online casinos and do not license them. They include Bolivia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bahamas, Argentina, Egypt, Kenya, Tunisia, Kosovo, Gibraltar, etc.