Poland restricts online casino to a single operator

Poland’s government has reversed course by deciding to restrict its online casino market to a single operator.

The Polish Council of Ministers approved amendments to the Polish Gambling Act. Poland, that previously permitted only online sports betting, it has not authorised casino and poker verticals, even though casino will be restricted to state-owned lottery operator Totalizator Sportowy.

The Polish government said they need this restriction because slots are “one of the most addictive forms of gambling.” In May, the Ministry of Finance of Poland hinted that all Polish-licensed online betting operators would have the chance to add slots to their offerings, but instead, the approved amendments grant the state-owned lottery control over all “games of chance on the internet.”

To bolster the business of the state’s licensed online operators, the state plans to maintain a register of unauthorised gambling sites and require internet service providers and banks to block domains and payments, respectively.

The government estimates that the changes will generate PLN 637m (€145m) for the state in its first year of adoption, rising to PLN 1.48b (€320m) and PLN 2.32 (€530m) in years two and three, respectively.

While previous estimates have claimed that unauthorised operators control over 90 percent of Poland’s PLN 5b (€1.1b) online market, the government hopes to control 40 percent of the market in the first year under the new regime, rising to 60 percent in year two and 80 percent after that.

The revised Gambling Act must now be vetted by the European Commission after which it will be returned to the Polish parliament for final approval. Assuming all is completed according to plan, the new rules will take effect Jan. 1, 2017.