Earnings for Poland’s casinos have rebounded strongly since the economic downturn and are now more than 130 percent higher than in 2012.
Poland’s gambling market consists of casinos, gaming machines and low-stake gaming machines, as well as lottery, bingo, poker, betting and online betting.
The effect on the economy due to COVID-19: GDP growth change compared to last year same period: -3.7 Lithuania -8.2 Sweden -9.6 Latvia -10.7 Czech Republic -11.7 Germany -13.3 Austria -14.4 EU average -14.5 Belgium -16.5 Portugal -17.3 Italy -19.0 France -22.1 Spain -32.9 USA Source.
- GAMBLING: is the waging of money or something of value (referred to as ‘the stakes’) on an event with an uncertain outcome, with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Gambling thus requires three elements be present: consideration, risk (chance), and a prize. GAMING is the act of playing games, as in.
- EU countries are autonomous in the way they organise their gambling services, as long as they comply with the fundamental freedoms established under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the EU.
In a boost to the casino industry, slot machines located outside of casinos were banned by the Polish government in 2010 and, in 2015, a Constitutional Tribunal upheld the ban.
However, laws that came into effect in April 2017 create a state monopoly under Totalizator Sportowy for operating slot machines outside of casinos, along with plans to establish a number of new gaming outlets.
In July 2018 Totalizator Sportowy opened its first game arcades and has gone on to establish a nationwide chain of slot venues.
Eurostat Gambling Rules
Sports betting is permitted in Poland and as well as online-gambling regulated by the Ministry of Finance, which began blacklisting unlicensed online casinos in June 2017.
The only online casino operator permitted is state-owned company Totalizator Sportowy, which began offering games via the internet in December 2018.
Eurostat Gambling Advice
In early 2020, gambling trade association PIGBRiB petition the government to change the tax base in Poland from turnover to gross gambling revenue (GGR).