Polish government plans to regulate online poker

Currently poker in Poland belongs to a so-called “grey zone”, e.g. to the zone that doesn’t fall under any regulations and thus it cannot be called a forbidden game. It’s expected that very soon online poker will become regulated by special law of this country. This can be deduced from the fact that by the end of April a bill is going to be presented aimed at the legalization of online gambling in Poland.

According to the lawyer of international law office - DLA Piper - after the bill is endorsed, gambling operators will be able to offer the whole range of gambling services: starting from online poker and casino and finishing with sport bets and lotteries. The only requirement for the operation will be a polish-speaking representative.

In the words of Poker Industry Pro publishment, the majority of companies avoid dealing with polish gambling market, which by the way comprises 37,5 millions of users, because of the high tax of 12% from turnover. It’s expected that after the bill passes through, taxes will be discussed and become equal to 20% of total profits.

In case of the successful online poker legalization in Poland, both operators and the government will benefit. The operators will become able to offer more games to their users with the lesser tax. The government in its turn will get an additional source of budget income.

Right now the majority is inclined to believe that the law on the territory of Poland, which concerns online poker and online gambling on the whole, contradicts to the EU legislation. Probably, this may have as well become a sort of stimulant to legalize gambling business in the country.