Gambling in Poland is regulated by the Act of 19 November 2009 on Gambling Games (unified text in Journal of Laws of 2016, item 471). The Gambling Law imposes strict rules on gambling and sets harsh requirements for gambling operators, with severe penalties for their violation. Offering unlawful gambling violates administrative law and, at the same time, is a fiscal crime in Poland. As a result, the offender may face liability under each of the two sets of regulations,. Amendment to the Gambling Law The Polish Parliament adopted an amendment to the 2009 Gambling Law on December 15, 2016. The president made it official when he signed the legislation a couple of weeks later. It went into effect on April 1, 2017.

Polish Gambling Act of 2009 sets the terms of organising and the principles of operating gambling games and the rules of taxation on gambling games.

Gambling games

Games of chanceshall be (also when organised online) games which offer cash or goods winnings, whose result depends primarily on chance

Games of chance shall be:

• number games;
• cash lotteries;
• telebingo;
• cylindrical games;
• dice games;
• cash bingo;
• raffle bingo;
• raffle lotteries;
• promotion lotteries;
• audiotele lotteries;

Betting shall be a bet for cash or a thing determined by guessing:

1) the results of a sports competition in which competitors are people or animals and where the participants pay stakes, while the prize depends on the total stakes paid – totalisator systems; or

2) the occurrence of various events, including virtual events in which the participants pay rates, and the amount of winnings depends on the agreed upon the pay-in-win ratio between the party taking the bet and the party paying the rate – bookmaking services.

Card gamesshall be black jack, poker and baccarat when they are played for cash or goods winnings

Games on slot machinesshall be games conducted on mechanical, electromechanical or electronical devices, including computer devices, and games whose principles correspond to the principles of games on gaming machines organised online, which offer cash or goods winnings and whose result depends on chance.

Poker

Poker games may be organised at casinos or outside casinos by entities which operate gambling games on the basis of a granted licence to manage a casino under regulations stipulated in the Gambling Act (article 6a paragraph 1).

Poker games may be also organised in the form of tournaments outside games casinos by an entity which does not hold a licence for the operation of casinos under regulations stipulated in the Gambling Act (article 6a paragraph 2).

State monopoly

The state has the monopoly on the activity in the field of number games, cash lotteries, telebingo, slot machines organised in slot machines parlors and online games with the exception of betting and promotion lotteries. Organization of the games within the state monopoly shall be subject to approval of the game rules by the Minister of Development and Public Finance.

Licenses and permissions

A casino operating license shall be granted by the Minister of Development and Public Finance.

The Minister of Development and Public Finance is responsible for granting permissions for cash bingo hall and betting.

Other information

The activity within the field of cylindrical games, card games, dice games and games on slot machines shall be conducted under the casino operating license. Games on slot machines can be organised in slot machines parlors by the entity conducting state monopoly.

The activity within the field of cash bingo shall be conducted under the cash bingo hall operating permission. The activity within the field of betting shall be conducted under the betting operating permission.

The activity within the field of cylindrical games, card games, dice games, games on gaming machines, cash bingo, betting shall be conducted only as a joint-stock company or a limited-liability company with the registered office within the territory of the Republic of Poland or other EU/EFTA member country, provided it establishes a representative in the Republic of Poland.

Raffle lotteries, raffle bingo and promotion lotteries can be organized by natural persons, legal persons and entities without legal personality under the granted permission.

Audiotele lotteries can be organized only by joint-stock companies or limited-liability companies with the registered office within the territory of the Republic of Poland or other EU/EFTA member country, provided it establishes a representative in the Republic of Poland, under the granted permission.

The permission for organizing raffle lotteries, audiotele lotteries, raffle bingo or promotion lotteries to be organized within the territorial jurisdiction of one Director of the Fiscal Administration Chamber shall be granted by the Director of the Fiscal Administration Chamber within whose territorial jurisdiction those games are organized and operated.

Registry for the Offering of Gambling Games Contrary to the Gambling Act

The Minister for Development and Public Finance shall manage the Domain Registry for the Offering of Gambling Games Contrary to the Act. The Register shall be open with everyone allowed the right to access data contained in the Register. The Register is managed in an ICT system, permitting the automatic transfer of information to the ICT systems of telecommunications undertakings and suppliers of paid services.

The Register includes:

1) the name of the domain used for operating gambling games without a licence, permit or notification as required by law, submitted to the recipients of services in the Republic of Poland, in particular when the websites which use these domain names are:

a) available in Polish,

b) advertised in the Republic of Poland;

2) the date and time of an entry, change or deletion.

The telecommunications undertaking which renders internet access services shall have an obligation to prevent access free-of-charge to websites which operate internet domain names entered in the Register by removing them from the ICT systems of telecommunications undertakings, used for changing internet domain names to IP addresses, no later than within 48 hours after making an entry in the Register andprovide free access to websites which use domain names struck off the Register, no later than within 48 hours of deleting the internet domain name from the Register.

Those undertakings shall redirect connections free-of-charge that cite internet domain names entered in the Register to websites managed by the Minister for Development and Public Finance.

The suppliers of paid services shall be forbidden to give access to paid services on websites which use the internet domain names entered in the Register. In the event of rendering paid services via a website using an online domain entered on the Register, the supplier of paid services shall have an obligation to cease the rendering of these services within 30 days of the day that the domain is entered in the Register.

The Register is available under: https://hazard.mf.gov.pl/

Online gambling activity in Poland is regulated by the Gambling Law of 2009. The act introduces stringent prescriptions regarding online casinos while leaving the word of European Union regulation.

Over the previous decades, gambling in Poland was regulated by Act on Games and Betting. However, the Act has been changed and the local government imposes additional restrictions on gambling activity.

Polish parliament adopted Gambling Law in December 2016. The president signed the Act on April 1, 2017. One of the vital prescriptions of Gambling law refers to unlicensed operators. According to Polish gambling law, unlicensed operators are websites that don’t hold an online gambling license. Under the local Gambling Act, all these sites are illegal. However, casino operators ignore these prescriptions…

Local regulatory bodies including the Ministry of Finance are working on the register of blacklisted operators. They plan to compile the register of unallowed operators with a focus on providers in the Polish Language. Once the site has been placed on the blacklist, internet service providers are informed about that. In the next step, providers are required to block access to these operators. If the visitors want to access the blacklisted website, they will be rerouted to the sites allowed by the Polish government.

According to amended Polish gambling law, online sites without a license can submit an appeal against the decision to be placed on a blacklist. However, the Ministry of Finance is not obliged to inform operators about putting them in the register of blacklisted providers.

Online casinos are always recommended options in Poland. If you look for reputable gambling operators, visit the Dobramine – unibet skrill site for more information.

Taking a look now at consequences, we can observe several things….First of all, the maximum penalty for operators that don’t comply with local regulation is 58,000 euros.

Before the adoption of the amendment, only legal activity in Poland was sports betting. At the moment, the only state-owned organization called Totalizator Sportowy offers casino-like games. Despite this offering, poker remains the illegal type of betting.

Brick and Mortar Venues in Poland

According to the Gambling Law of 2009, there is a limited number of brick and mortar venues in Poland. Apart from venues that offer traditional gaming services, some operators include bingo saloons and sports betting.

Each Polish municipality which consists of 250,000 citizens or less is allowed to have one casino. In the case of bingo saloons, only one venue is allowed for every 100,000 people. Slot machines are also allowed in the state.

Gambling Law In Poland Today