Gambling Act - Update (2021)

The gambling law of 2009 is officially in force in Poland. In April 2o17, an amendment to this act was introduced, which radically changed the habits of all those who love playing in an online casino. At the moment, according to Polish law, the player can only play in Total Casino or one of the dozen or so legal online bookmakers. The number of legal operators is slowly increasing, but there is a monopoly on playing in the casino.

Usually, the regulation of the market causes positive changes - more funds go to the state budget - the citizens of the country cannot be satisfied. They still have it, 3 years after the amendment of the act very limited choice of operators they can play.

It might seem that it can't get any worse, yet the government in Poland is preparing another amendment. This time, the changes will concern terrestrial arcades, the organization of poker tournaments, and the so-called Registry of Forbidden Domains. In this article, you will learn all about the currently discussed changes to the customs code, and the ones currently in force the gambling act.

Proposed changes to the gambling act as part of the amendment to the Customs Code 2021

In December last year, he entered the Polish parliament a new bill, which he proposes changes in the Customs Code, as well as provisions affecting the shape of the gambling law. Can we expect a relaxation of some of the strictest gambling regulations in Europe, or are we to prepare for even stricter regulations? Find out the details about the project below.

Remember that the bill was only submitted to the Sejm and its first reading took place. The proposed changes are not yet in use, but only discussed in parliamentary sessions. Here's what they are about:

1. 1. Poker tournaments
    The bill is largely concerned with organizing poker tournaments. The information that needs to be provided in order to create such an event is specified. If the project goes live, the organizers will have to provide all the details about the tournament players - name, surname, tournament buy-in amount and financial winnings details.
  2. Games arcades
    Currently you cannot legally open a licensed arcade in a place where the law on illegal slot machine equipment has been breached in the last 5 years. The new changes assume that such decisions would be made dependent only from the appropriate director of the tax administration chamber when planning the location of a given arcade.
    Additionally, a specification has been added to the required distance of amusement arcades from pedagogical and educational institutions.
  3. A more efficiently functioning registry of forbidden domains
    The proposed changes do not only apply to physical establishments. Restrictions also have to do with the world online casinos. Known to all of us registry of banned domains, which is under the control of the Ministry of Finance, would apply not only to unauthorized casino operators, but also websites advertising and promoting gambling forbidden by Polish law.
    In the event that such a change becomes effective, National Tax Administration could select the appropriate authorities to prosecute such acts. Consideration of objections it would not be limited to 7 days, and 14.
The current state of the project 2021
The proposed changes were referred by the Sejm to the Public Finance Committee. Just a few days ago, on January 21, c The Seym occurred first reading of the proposal amendment to the Customs Code.
The next steps are the second and third reading in the Sejm, and then work in the Senate benches. When the amendments are approved by Senate, the bill will be returned to the Sejm for further consideration. The last body in the process of amending the law is itself President, which, by signing the document, will implement its assumptions.
How should we understand the proposed changes to the Customs Code 2021?
To our critical eye, the proposed fixes do not impact the experience of the average online casino player very much. By the time! As in the case of the location of ground arcades and the law regarding the organization of poker tournaments, the matter may not be worrying, the provision of changes in the functioning of the registry of prohibited domains.
Worrying is the proposal to transfer decision-making abilities regarding which domains are to appear in this list to KAS employees. In practice, this could mean right now confusing law of advertising and gambling marketing would be even more downplayed or simply in the world, incomprehensible to people outside the industry. Thus, many portals and websites dealing with iGaming could wrongly end up in the registry of banned domains.
Of course, the owner of the website and domain has the right to refer to such a decision - however nobody wants to get involved in legal fights and waste time and nerves discussing unnecessary controversy.
No panic! We will follow the situation closely and keep the readers of KasynoOrzel up to date on legal changes that could in any way affect the online casino experience.

Gambling Act of 2009

The Anti-Gambling Act, or rather the Gambling Act of November 2009, is still the basic document that regulates the operation of betting and the gambling market in Poland. It was aimed at limiting the revenues of the shadow economy in our country and regulating online gambling. Although the act quite clearly defined the way of organizing bets and games of chance (including cylinder and number games, gambling machines, or dice and card games, lotteries, bingo), it also significantly influenced the players themselves..

The Gambling Act of 2009 specifies what requirements must be met for a given betting or gaming organizer to function legally under the authorization. It defined the budget that the joint stock company must have at its disposal and the manner in which the winnings were to be paid out. On the one hand, it ensured the safety of players because it limited the activity of illegal arcades, on the other hand, it limited the free course of services within the European Union, to which Poland belongs. Already at that time, such approach of Poland to the case was criticized and it was hoped that the situation would be clarified by the European Court of Justice. Ultimately, however, the EU Tribunal did not take an unequivocal position and the act remained in its form until the next amendment.

Gambling Act of 2017 - amendment

Let us remind you that the gambling law was introduced in Poland in 2009, after the so-called "gambling scandal". In order to improve the situation as quickly as possible, it was done carelessly. There were opinions immediately that the act was inaccurate and omitted important aspects. As a result, on December 15, 2016, the amendment to the gambling act of 2009 was adopted. The amendment entered into force on April 1 this year and, contrary to appearances, it is not a joke at all April Fool's Day. What has changed in the gambling law? What will happen to vending machines? What about gambling companies? And how will the new gambling law affect the player's comfort? We will try to answer all these questions and dispel any doubts.

Casinos that no longer accept Polish players

Due to the tightening resulting from the provisions of the new gambling act, some brands have decided to withdraw from the Polish market. Some casinos did it in fact, fearing the consequences of the new law. Other online casinos used the situation as an incentive and stopped providing services to Poles. Perhaps this market was not worth the investment for them, it was not profitable or it was simply not a priority for companies.

We present a list of online casinos that used to serve Polish customers, but unfortunately no longer accept Polish players. We will systematically update the list. If you need reliable information, check the eagle casino website:

and many, many more known and respected operators all over the world.

What changes have the gambling law introduced in 2017?

The new gambling act aims to reduce the "shadow economy" and impose the need to purchase a license, and thus new revenues to the state budget are estimated. Here are what actions have been implemented:

Online and land-based bookmakers must obtain a license to operate legally in our country. A bookmaker that does not have a license will be entered in the "Register of illegal websites"
Pages from the registry list are blocked from July 1, 2017. This obligation has been imposed on ISPs who will have to block these sites within 48 hours.
Payment service providers cannot operate illegal gambling companies and are required to remove logos from their sites.
Licensed land-based casinos are legal. There are guidelines for the number of casinos in the province and per population.
Slot machines are under state monopoly. Location rules for salons with vending machines apply - distance from schools and churches. Penalties for arranging games on illegal slot machines will increase from PLN 12 to PLN 100,000 per piece.
The same monopoly on behalf of the state will be responsible for the organization of games in the internet casino.
Some of the rules on poker have been relaxed, for example a tournament where the winnings do not exceed PLN 2,000 do not require a license. Poker in and out of the casino is legal once a license has been issued.
Gambling advertising regulation. Mutual bets cannot be advertised from 6 to 22, in the press intended for minors. The advertisement must contain information about the issued permit.
Introducing special protection against the negative effects of gambling.

Now let's take a closer look at these changes briefly.

Registry of banned domains - what is?

After the amendment of the gambling law in 2017, the Ministry of Finance published the register of banned domains online, where we can find a list of illegal operators online. What is the purpose of this action? If you are not sure if a particular casino is legal, just check the list on the Internet. If a given casino or bookmaker is listed there, it means that it does not have a license from the Ministry of Finance to operate on the Polish market. The Register of Forbidden Domains is available on the Ministry's website and is publicly available. As a player, you have the opportunity to check whether you are acting in accordance with Polish law.

The Registry of Prohibited Domains is particularly important for Internet providers who are required to block a given domain within 48 hours of its inclusion in the registry. The Registry of Prohibited Domains also serves payment intermediaries. These are obliged to terminate the contract with the operator whose party has been found prohibited. They have less than 30 days to do so.

Obligation to implement Responsible Gaming

This is by far the most positive change we owe to the current legal regulation. I am talking about the obligation to have an appropriate tab with instructions on how to play responsibly. This requirement has been used for many years in countries such as the United Kingdom and MGA-regulated casinos. This time was also joined by Poland and online operators who have a permit from the Ministry of Finance. What is responsible gaming?

Responsible Gaming determines how a player can avoid the negative effects of gambling or gambling addiction. The Ministry of Finance requires the following information on the website of a legal bookmaker:

allowed player age is 18+
Information that gambling can be addictive and how to avoid it
Information on where to find help if you are having a gambling problem
Access to game limits (game time, stake and deposit) and self-blocking of the account (self-exclusion)
A clock that tells the player what time it is and allows you to better control the time spent playing on the Internet
Regulations defining the rules applicable on the website of a legal bookmaker regarding account registration, payment of winnings, etc..

Player account verification

Following the example of foreign institutions regulating online gambling, the Ministry requires operators who have obtained a permit to operate on the Polish market to implement appropriate procedures aimed at:

Protection of underage players, i.e. verification of the user's age
Cancellation of Multiple Accounts Owned by a Single Player
Verification of users by sending documents (not only minors)
Allowing users to control the game (limits)

Legal bookmakers - list

As we have mentioned many times, a legal bookmaker is one that has a license to operate from the Ministry of Finance. How many legal bookmakers are there in Poland? Here is the list:

- Fortune
- STS Sportsbook
- Fortbet
- eWinner
- Betclic
- Totalbet
- Superbet
- PZBuk
- LV bet
- eTOTO
- Totolotek Sportsbooks
- Noblebet
- Betphan
- BetX
- Hit the bookmakers' bets
- OKBet
- BestBet
- Mr Bet

As you can see, the list of legal bookmakers in Poland is not terribly long, but it is gradually growing. The procedure for obtaining a license in Poland is not easy. Additionally, every bookmaker entering the Polish market must have a registered domain with the ending '.pl'

Gambling Act 2017 - Tax

Immediately after the adoption of the gambling law in 2017, the very high tax that operators have to pay to the State Treasury was loudly criticized.. It amounts to 12% and is the highest tax of this type in the gambling industry. The high tax also discouraged foreign companies from applying for a Polish license. Among other things, for this reason, we still have only about 12 legally operating bookmakers in Poland.

It quickly turned out, however, that the issue of tax was not precisely defined. It is important that the operator discharges it and the appropriate amount is transferred to the Treasury. Recall that this is 12% of each bet. Bookmakers came out of this situation unscathed and shifted the tax to players. Therefore, an amount equal to 12% is automatically charged on the amount of each bet placed. Needless to say, it is very unfavorable for all players and is the reason why Poles still use the services of foreign websites. The 12% tax also applies to bets in the online casino for which Totalizator Sportowy has monipol.

Tax on winnings

However, the 12% tax levied on each of your establishments is not everything. Remember that each win at Total Casino or at a legal bookmaker in Poland will be subject to a tax on the win in the amount of 10%. Who will lose on this? Unfortunately, players, because the amount won will be reduced by the mentioned 10%. Fortunately, the operator will take care of all the formalities related to this. The player, on his part, does not have to declare any revenues to the Tax Office for his winnings. This is the only positive thing about it.

Penalties for illegal gambling

Penalties for illegal gambling are not only subject to betting companies, but unfortunately also players. Penalties for using the services of illegal operators - intentional or unintentional, can reach up to 120 daily player's rates. According to the act, the daily rate is to range from PLN 75 to PLN 3,000. In addition, all winnings would be confiscated.

Gambling Act 2017 and online casino games

Although the amendment to the law was kind to bookmakers, we cannot say the same about the online casino. The tax office has established a monopoly on the internet casino, which was acquired by Totalizator Sportowy. A company with many years of experience in organizing bets and games of chance, unfortunately failed when creating an online casino. Due to lengthy procedures and over 2 years of operation, Total Casino still has a small portfolio of games. Unfortunately, playing in any other casino is illegal from the point of view of Polish law. This causes the players dissatisfied with the casino's offer to be frustrated and unfortunately succumb to the temptation to gamble illegally..

The amendment to the act and the game of poker

According to the provisions of the Act, poker tournaments can be organized only by entities that have a license to operate casinos or those that do not have one, provided that the prizes will be in material form. The legislator reserves, however, that the value of the items should not exceed 50% of the base amount, where for 2019 the potential value of the item in the tournament would be PLN 2,405.71..

It is worth noting that if we play poker in a casino, there is no such objection. Is it legal to play poker with friends at home under the new gambling law? Unfortunately not.

How do Internet gambling companies react to these changes??

The amendment to the gambling law entered into force on April 1, and although the obligation to block pages from the "Register of illegal websites" will not come into force until July 1, 2017, we can already observe the first changes among internet casinos. Some gambling companies withdrew from the Polish market, including: Bet365, William Hill, Mr Green, Shadow Bet, Kasyno.pl and ComeOn.

European companies from the gambling industry defend themselves and point out that one of the main postulates of the amendment - the introduction of special protection against the negative effects of gambling, is a stretch. These companies have long been independently implementing the procedures for complying with the responsible gaming policy (preventing underage players from playing and other programs ensuring safe gaming: begambleaware.org, gamblingtherapy.org, anonimowihazardzisci.org)

There are still a lot of Polish online casinos and bookmakers on the market. They operate in the field of online gambling services based on the law of the European Union, where they are registered, e.g. in Malta. Poland is subject to EU law and in its light, the operation of these online casinos and bookmakers is legal. The change in the gambling law is certainly intended to increase the state budget revenues, but the compliance of this policy with European Union law is a questionable issue..

On our website you will find fresh information from the gambling industry market. Especially for you, we follow the situation related to the new gambling act and its consequences and update our website. Visit kasnoorzel.pl and you will find out which online casinos accept Polish players, where you can play your favorite casino games, without leaving home. We keep our finger on the pulse and inform about all changes caused by the new gambling law.

Sources: