Polish Online Gaming

A new gambling regulatory regime came into effect in Poland on 1 April 2017 after being approved by the country’s government in 2016. International operators are able to apply for a license for the provision of sports betting options only. Online casino, poker and bingo games can only be offered by the country’s designated gambling monopoly. Before 2007, online gaming was not an issue, although the law from 1992 stated that any foreign operator was forbidden to offer gambling products to the residents of Poland. Since all online gaming operators were foreign entities, offering online gaming was illegal by default. The law was not fully enforced and penalties were not applied for those involved in online gaming. The government started discussions in 2007 that would specifically ban online gaming.

New amendments to the Gaming Law came into force on 1 January 2010. The new legislation banned online gaming completely, as well as advertising Internet gambling companies. Additional amendments include the prohibition of online gaming operators sponsoring sports clubs.

In 2011, the President signed the amendment to the Polish Gambling Act which ushered in the current regulatory scheme.

In January 2012, the Polish Ministry of Finance granted its first online gaming license to Fortuna zaklady bukmacherskie (Fortuna) to offer its online gaming services to Polish residents.

On 25 March 2014, amendments to the Polish Gambling Act made it possible for companies based anywhere in the EU to process gambling-related transactions. This opened Poland's online gaming market to payment processors such as Skrill and Neteller. The European Commission approved the amendments in March 2015.