Poland Gambling Laws

Updated: 2025

The laws regarding online gambling in Poland are clearly defined in the Gambling Law of 19 November 2009. This statute imposed some very strict regulations, and the tight standards they established are a clear departure from the generally more permissive attitudes toward gambling that many countries in the European Union have.

Before this statute was enacted, gambling in Poland was regulated by the Act on Games and Betting. Lobbyists for the gaming industry attempted to persuade lawmakers to change this law in a way that would favor them. Much of the new law's restrictiveness stems from the government's desire to signal that they could not be purchased by gambling lobbies.

Amendment to the Gambling Law

An amendment to the 2009 Gambling Law was adopted by the Polish Parliament on December 15, 2016. It became official a couple of weeks later when the president signed the legislation and allowed it to move ahead. It was then that we got to see what these new rules would look like.

A very important part of the amendment dealt with the online gambling laws in Poland, particularly concerning unlicensed gaming websites that accept Polish players. The term "unlicensed" pertains to any website that does not possess a Polish online gambling license. Such sites were always illegal under the Gambling Law in its original form; however, statute was routinely ignored by both operators and players.

According to the amendment, they now draw up a register of unlicensed websites, which amounts to a blacklist. The office of the Minister of Finance supervises this. They seek websites that are available in Polish and that advertise in Poland to designate as unlicensed.

When a website is placed on this blacklist, internet service providers are notified. They are then made to block access to the site. Visitors must be rerouted to a government-operated website that explains the site they were trying to get to is on this register.

The revised Polish online gambling legislation does permit unlicensed online gambling operators to appeal to the Minister of Finance after the unlicensed operators have been placed on a blacklist. The law makes no provision for the Minister to inform operators when they have been placed on a blacklist.

You may think right away from the last sentence that they will undoubtedly discover this when they visit their site. But if they were to access it from anywhere outside Poland, it would not be blocked.

This is a very big step affecting with palpable impact the unlicensed internet venues that wish to conduct business in Poland. These are not permitted to work with payment service providers of any kind to facilitate monetary transactions. This latest amendment gives them 30 days, however, to cease and desist after any one of them has been registered by the relevant Polish authorities.

Poland has quite a stern punishment for not adhering to its online gambling laws. The worst you can get is a penalty of around 58,000 euros, and this isn't just aimed at the website operators themselves. Internet service providers are also on the hook for this violation.

Prior to the addition of the amendment to the Gambling Law, the only form of online gaming that was legal in Poland was sports betting. A company owned by the state called Totalizator Sportowy is now allowed to provide online games, similar to those found in casinos. Online poker is illegal in Poland; this does not extend to poker.

In terms of poker, before the amendment, the only legal poker that could be played in Poland occurred in tournaments at regulated physical casinos. These still mostly represent the legal landscape of poker in Poland, but now, thanks to the new law, there are rules under which online poker can be offered, as well as some potential for poker to be played in other regulated venues.

It also permits licensed casinos to conduct poker tournaments in external locations. Similarly, it legalized poker tournaments conducted by unlicensed individuals or organizations, with the stipulation that the maximum top prize be around €500.

While there are physical casinos, they are few and far between, as dictated by the 2009 Gambling Law. Therefore, in addition to casinos that offer traditional fare, you can find places to play bingo and even wager on sports. These facilities are found throughout the country.

Poland Gambling Laws for Brick and Mortar Casinos

Municipalities with a population of less than or equal to 250,000 can place one casino within town limits, and for every 250,000 increment in population, another casino may be established. For use in "bingo saloons," one casino may be established for every 100,000 people.

The laws in Poland concerning gambling authorize the existence of slot machine parlors, and the amendment adjusted the legal specifics. All of these are run by the same state Pharmco that is permitted to provide online games tucked away in the 'not live' section of a casino: Totalizator Sportowy. A parlor can hold up to 50 machines, and they are found across the country.

Poland gambling laws allow slot machine parlors as well, and the amendment changed the legal parameters. These are all operated by the same state-owned company that is authorized to offer online casino games: Totalizator Sportowy. There can be as few as three and as many as fifty machines in the slot machine parlors in Poland.