Online Gambling in Poland
With the Polish Gambling Act from 2009 and its consequent amendments from 2014, all forms of gambling are legal, including all sorts of online gambling, as of January 2017. The official body responsible for overseeing the lawful functioning of the gambling sector in the country is the Ministry of finance (Ministerstwo Finansow). Prior to this reform of the gambling system in Poland, several very restrictive laws were on force which limited gambling activities only to the locations of the casinos.
However the legalization of the sector does not mean in the same time liberalization of the gambling market in the country, which is dominantly influenced by the oligopolies of Totolotek and Totalizator Sportowy in all sorts of gambling. These oligopolies are further defended by the Polish authorities with high turnover taxes discouraging any investments in the gambling field. In this respect it is worth mentioning that Poland’s betting taxes are among the highest in Europe with 12%. by the end of 2016 an amendment to the gamblinglaw was proposed for increased taxing of all gambling turnover.
Online Gambling in Poland
The Polish Act on Gaming of 2010 did not provide for the regulation of online gambling, but an amendment passed in 2011 did so, although the outcome wasn’t satisfactory.
Since then, betting in Poland has been regulated, although online casinos have not been. However, following amendments from 2014 regulate the online casino market too circling thus a huge legal reform in the Polish gambling sector. This regulation again favors Totolotek and Totalizatior Sportowy which are the sole "rulers" of the online gambling market in Poland.
