Unregulated Online Gambling Operators Thrive in Poland

While Poland has a regulated online gambling industry, the majority of gambling revenues are disappearing into the unregulated market. The market is now worth €1 billion a year in Poland, however, the country’s four licensed operators account for just 9% of it.

This is largely because the country’s regulation only allows internet sports betting and bans all online poker and casino games. The Polish government says that this is because sports betting depends upon the teams and is less likely to be rigged than other forms of online gambling.

Defence logistic attorney Anna Wietrzynska-Ciolkowska recently explained, “it is estimated that Poland loses approximately PLN 600 million (approximately €142 million) in potential tax revenue, which would be paid in Poland by international betting operators if they were allowed to have a Polish license. I do not have any similar data for poker, but I would assume that the figure would be similar.”

Poland is also facing scrutiny from the European Commission which considers the practice of only granting licenses to Polish operators as forbidden under current EU treaties. Poland now allows non-Polish payment processors such as Neteller, however, it seems that for now the country is content to allow unregulated operators to thrive.