The Polish gaming business nets 95% of its revenue from exports abroad – as PlayStation discs, Xbox games, PC downloads or mobile apps. The most successful of these is “The Witcher” from leading. According to the amendment the joint-stock companies and the limited liability companies based in one of the European Union Countries or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) will be able to carry out their specific gambling activity in Poland via the branch established in Poland or the representative.
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Most forms of online gambling are considered illegal in Poland due to strict anti-gaming laws that were passed in 2009, 2011 and 2016. The only form of legal internet gambling is sports betting and even with that there only four companies with licenses to offer it. Despite these harsh laws, online gambling is estimated to be a billion euro industry in the country.
For the longest time, Poland had no enforcement mechanism in place to target individual gamblers. At one point, Poland removed its prohibition of financial transaction services that serve the global gaming market. If you didn’t know any better, you would have thought online gambling was legal in Poland due to it being so easy to make an account, deposit your money and receive cashouts when you won.
Gambling laws passed in 2016 and enacted in 2017 have changed everything. Onerous new regulations and taxes combined with an internet blocking program have crippled the industry. Many Polish betting sites have left the country due to the regulations and taxes being simply unworkable.
Currently, Polish gambling law grants a monopoly over online casino games to Totalizator Sportowy but allows private companies to acquire licenses to offer online sports betting. The three largest state-approved sports betting sites in Poland include STS Sportsbook (sts.pl), forBET (iforbet.pl) and Totolek (totolek.pl).
Below are some sites that still accept Polish customers as of 2017. We will do our best to keep our list of betting sites in Poland accurate, but these sites could leave the country at any moment. Additionally, the government maintains an ever-growing blacklist of websites that are blocked by local internet service providers.
Polish Gambling Laws
Amendments to the gambling laws proposed in 2016 and implemented in 2017 have resulted in significant changes to the way the state addresses online betting. The amendments to the act cover a lot of ground, but the most important changes they brought was to legalize online casino and poker games in addition to sports betting.
Word of new legislation addressing online betting in Poland was met with optimism, but enthusiasm died quickly once the new regulations were actually unveiled. Sports betting, casino and poker operators all have good reasons to complain today.
Online sports betting remains legal in Poland and now operators have the ability to acquire a license, but are now on the hook for a 12% tax on betting turnover. A number of the largest betting sites that once served Poland have now left the market citing that the new tax would make it impossible to operate profitably.
The legalization of online casino games was likewise a welcome development – until the Polish government decided to grant a monopoly over online casinos games to the state-owned Totalizator Sportowy.
For a while, it seemed as though online poker was the only form of gaming to get a break under the new gaming laws. The 2016 amendments did not specifically name “poker” as subject to a state monopoly. However, it was later revealed that poker would be classified under the greater “casino” umbrella and also be restricted to the state-owned monopoly provider.
A report published in 2019 by the Polish Supreme Audit Office (NIK) found the state has yielded mixed results in channeling players away from illegal gambling sites and onto state-authorized sites. Government approved gambling sites and sportsbooks have made progress, but offshore operators still control more than half the market today.
History of Online Gambling in Poland
Poland didn’t always have such harsh gaming laws. The first piece of legislation to be enacted in modern times came with a 1992 law that sought to restrict the number of land-based casinos in Poland. The law wasn’t overly prohibitive; its simple goal was to keep gambling under control by placing limits on how many casinos could be built going forward.
Even as internet gaming hit its boom in the early 2000s, Polish law did not address online betting. This all changed in 2009 with the passage of the Gambling Law of 2009. The law banned all forms of internet gambling except for sports betting and made it an offense for a player to even participate in any form of gaming that wasn’t regulated by the state.
The part about fining players for patronizing unlicensed gaming sites is troubling. Up until recently, the government showed absolutely no interest in harassing individual gamblers. However, things took a sudden and drastic turn in late 2014 when the Polish government announced that it would indeed begin prosecutions against players. Even worse, there was no warning given ahead of time. The government statement revealed only that it already had the information of thousands of gamblers and would being proceedings against the biggest winners.
Amendments to the law were passed in 2011. These amendments set up the licensing process for companies to offer online sports betting to citizens. This did little to resolve the problems facing operators as it still outlawed most forms of gambling. On top of that, the license to offer sports betting was prohibitively expensive and required the company to be registered as an LLC in Poland, use a Polish domain and host its servers on Polish soil.
These amendments accomplished few real-world results. Only four companies obtained licenses to offer sports betting while many others continued to accept Polish customers without the proper licensing. That continues to this day with many big-name brands openly catering to Polish players.
Gamblers got a big break in March 2014 when Poland eased its restrictions on banking transactions to and from gaming sites. Under pressure from the European Union, Polish lawmakers decided to lift prohibitions that attempted to prevent citizens from using popular payment methods to fund their accounts.
The easing of those restrictions instantly made it easier for players to fund their accounts and receive withdrawals from unlicensed gaming sites. Once again, we had a fully functioning quasi-legal online gambling market in Poland. Players could visit dozens of sites to play poker, bet on sports and play casino games without any worries about getting paid.
This left internet gambling banned in Poland amidst a backdrop of unclear and sporadically enforced laws. Most wagers placed online in Poland are placed with offshore gaming sites despite the legal risk now posed to individual gamblers.
In June of 2014, Polish lawmakers published a new draft of amendments to the Gambling Law of 2009. These new amendments sought to streamline the application process for betting sites, allow foreign operators to obtain a license and require bookmakers to ensure they verify the age and identities of their customers.
However, things took a turn for the worse in November of 2014 when the Ministry of Finance announced that it would begin enforcing laws that target individual players. In a statement posted to the MoF website, authorities said that they had collected the information of more than 24,000 people who have accessed unlicensed gambling sites and would begin criminal proceedings against 1,100 of those people.
It remains unclear what (if anything) happened to those players on the list, but the announcement send shockwaves throughout the industry regardless. It showed that the government is serious about cracking down on unlicensed Polish betting sites and has the will to enforce the law.
Positive developments in 2016 made it look as though the online gambling situation in Poland could be on the verge of improving. In May of 2016, a Deputy Prime Minister held a press conference in which he expressed his desire to legalize and tax online poker.
Jaroslaw Gowin also proposed relaxing licensing requirements in order to open the Polish market to international betting sites. Gowin’s argument favour of his proposal were simple: make it easier for operators to acquire licenses so the government can actually attract operators who will then contribute taxes to the treasury.
Positive developments failed to materialize in 2017. If anything, the situation grew worse as an increasing number of sites chose to leave Poland altogether rather than deal with the burdensome regulations and senseless taxes.
On top of that, foreign sites that do choose to serve Polish customers without proper licensing are subject to internet censorship. A blacklist of gambling websites maintained by the Ministry of Finance includes a growing number of websites that internet service providers were required to block beginning 1 July, 2017.
That list swelled to more than 800 websites within one month of going live. New websites are added to the list every day and Polish ISPs have no choice but to comply. Local ISPs are given 48 hours to block access to blacklisted domains or else face a 250,000 PLN fine per incident.
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Polish gamblers never had a very hard time making deposits, but things got even easier in 2014 after the government eased its restrictions on financial institutions. Now, there are dozens of payment methods that can be used to fund your account and receive cashouts for your winnings.
E-wallets such as Skrill and Neteller are accepted by nearly all gaming sites and accept PLN transactions. You can also use your credit or debit card, bank wire, Trustly and Entropay. If you don’t want to reveal your banking information or you simply prefer cash, you can purchase Ukash vouchers or Paysafecards and then redeem those online.
Ethernet slot time example. Przelewy24 by Skrill works with all the major banks in Poland and can be used to send money straight from your bank account to your gaming account instantly. Some of the supported banks include Bank BPH, Bank Nordea Poland, Zachodni WBK, BGZ, Citibank Handlowy, INGBank, Deutsche Bank PBC and many more.
The Polish gaming market shows all sorts of potential despite confiscatory tax rates and operators that choose to remain are going to great lengths to cater to it. They want it to be easy to deposit, easy to withdraw and easy to play. Several of the largest sites (such as those listed above) even have Polish language versions of their websites. All you have to do is pick one and sign up for an account.
Where should we begin when it comes to discussing the European online gambling market? The European market has seen its fair share of ups and downs, but also have led the way in the introduction of games, betting styles and platforms since the inception of the industry.
We are going to speak of the European market in general terms on this page; obviously, there are some significant differences in each individual country’s approach to online gambling.
For now, let’s review some of the essential common elements that anyone should be looking at when they are choosing an online gambling site to play from Europe.
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Top Recommended Online Gambling Sites
Mobile Gambling
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Mobile Gambling
Is Online Gambling Legal in Europe
Find the Best Promotions
Licensing Jurisdiction
Customer Service
Banking Options
Conclusion
We review all the European-facing sites we can find, from the most established brands to the brightest of newcomers. Of course, every site is a little bit different, and many have restrictions depending on where you live. With that in mind, we encourage you to read our individual reviews to learn about each company in detail. To help you get started, we have compiled a list of our top 5 recommended European Gambling Sites above, which we are sure will offer you a fantastic experience.
There is no single answer to this question. With a region made up of so many different countries, it is not surprising to see that there are also various stances on online gambling. While the region is very advanced compared to North America regarding the legalities of online gambling sites, for many countries it is still a work in progress. In fact, the European gaming regulation map looks similar to that of the individual U.S. states.
In each of our individual country reports, you will get an in-depth review of that country’s regulatory environment. With the introduction of the European Union, it seemed like the collective wrote an onion about its stance on many topics, including gambling.
For the purposes of a general review let’s highlight a few in summary form:
United KingdomThe UK have long been operating in a regulated environment, and in fact, the Internet Gambling Act enforces the fact that to legally accept UK players, an online gambling website needs to apply for and receive a license from the Gambling Commission. This application process is rigorous, and the Gambling Commission does not look favorably at companies who have in the past accepted players from unregulated markets.
SpainThe Spanish Gambling Act was entered into law to help manage the federal oversight of regulated gambling, which was before that left up to the individual states. As a result of this legislation, operators can apply for a license that if received will allow them to legally accept Spanish players to gamble on all forms of online games.
FranceThe French also have a form of regulated online gambling, which allows licensed operators to allow sports betting, poker, and horse racing. Despite their love of card games, there is no option for obtaining a license to offer online casino games, so any operators who can provide those games in addition to poker and sports in other jurisdictions must shut them off for any players that come from France.
ItalyThe Italian government looked to increase tax revenue and capitalize on the country’s love of soccer by introducing legislation to allow sports betting in the mid-2000s. This allowed anyone who acquired a license to take sports betting action either online or in a land-based retail environment. Amendments to that law over the years added other online betting options such as lottery, casino and poker and today Italians have a full range of products to select from when they are choosing an online gambling site.
Of course, all these regulations are regularly updated, so it is important that you review this page often to get the most up to date data and information. Also, even though there are a series of regulations limiting play of some or all games online depending on the country, there is no precedent for a player being prosecuted under these laws. While we cannot definitively tell you that online gambling is legal from a player perspective, it is safe to say that these governments have no current plan to curb the industry by going after every individual who bets online.
From an operator perspective, there are a few European jurisdictions where an online gambling site can get a license which will allow them to “legally” operate their companies. Of course, this license still has to mix with the individual European country laws, so this licensing actually exists as a way to protect players from shady operators stealing their money.
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The four jurisdictions in Europe were an online gambling site can apply for a license are Alderney, Isle Of Man, Malta, and Gibraltar. A site does not need to acquire more than one license (although some have) and each location has its own individual benefits.
Aldrerney Gaming Control Commission
Malta Lotteries & Gaming Authority
Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission
Fortunately for European players, the amount of regulation they find in the region opens the doors for all sorts of payment processing options. What this means for players is a choice to use debit and credit cards, third-party payments companies, and even Paypal to make their deposits and withdrawals.
What does this look like? Here is a partial list of third-party e-cash payments providers for the European market:
Some of these may not be available in your country, but there is no doubt that you will have heard of many of these and may even already have accounts with them, which will make your online gambling experience even easier!
Finally, when you are researching what online gambling site to play at, you should look to see if they offer games in your local currency. Most sites will offer games in Pounds or Euros, which covers a significant amount of people, however, if you are in a country with its own currency, we don’t want you to find yourself paying adverse exchange rates just to get the currency into your account. Our reviews of European-facing gambling sites outlines all the currencies that a site accepts.
Mobile Gambling in Europe
As we discussed, the European online gaming market is more mature than their North American counterparts.This is best seen in the way that Europeans gamble on their sports, especially soccer.
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Soccer in-game betting is incredibly popular given the nature of the sport and the number of games that end in draws.
Allowing players to gamble from their mobile devices means that the tens of thousands of possible bettors sitting in any soccer stadium have the opportunity to place wagers on what they are watching in real time.
Online operators quickly built mobile-friendly platforms to accommodate this type of betting, and that quickly spread to all forms of sports betting. These days, European players can play all their favorite online games directly from their phones or tablets, including most casino games and poker. Each individual European country has their own laws in place, but many countries also allow for native apps to be downloaded to devices to enhance the quality of the player experience further.
Finding the Best Promotions From European Gambling Sites
When you are looking for a European online gambling site, it’s important to take into consideration what types of promotions a site offers and to make sure that their offers fit your needs. If you are a sports bettor and most of a site’s promotions are free-spin-based, for example, then we wouldn’t recommend you make a deposit. The bonuses you receive at a site are part of the value proposition that will assist in making you a profitable player over the long run.
With so many different games being offered by the biggest online gambling sites, marketing departments for these companies are working overtime to make sure all their promotional offers are attractive to any player who comes along. On top of the free chip and free bet promotions designed to reward players for creating accounts without depositing, you should be looking for the best return on your initial deposits and any loyalty programs the site offers to extend your play.
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Finally, with so many countries in play, many online gambling sites tailor some promotions to be localized for specific countries. For example, you may find a poker promotion that rewards players from France only to qualify for a local live tournament or sporting event; those types of promotions offer great value as the player pool is likely much smaller than for the site’s global promotions.
What About Customer Service for All These Customers?
Customer Service can be a minefield for many online gamblers. Getting through to a live person to speak with at the time you need them can be a frustrating process, which becomes even worse when you realize that the person with whom you are speaking does not speak your language. No amount of Google translate can help in these situations; it usually makes the process slow and painful.
Most of the large online gambling sites that offer games to Europeans also provide customer service in several languages. This is usually determined by the number of players from a given country that is in the site’s database. Sometimes this specialized customer service is only available during peak hours, but in a worst case scenario you will always be able to email the site with your issue, and you will most likely receive a response back in your language.
North American online gamblers have a significant amount of envy when they see all the options Europeans have for regulated, legal online gambling.
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Europeans in most countries have access to the top operators, software suppliers and banking options in the world.
Add in some killer promotions, and it’s entirely clear that any European that has the ability to gamble online should be able to find exactly what they are looking for to suit their needs.