One day, Milan Rabszski met a certain lawyer named Andrew. He was from Austria and came to Poland to visit his relatives. By the will of fate, he ended up in one of the legalne polskie kasyna (this is how the Poles proudly call their rather few state-owned casinos). Milan was pulled to and astonished by Andrew, proving to the crowd that the casino pumps oxygen in the gaming room. To which Milan loudly and clearly said to the whole hall: No, casinos do not pump oxygen in the gaming hall!
The fact is that around the casino, there are always a lot of myths about ploys and tricks that are used by players and casino owners to swing things in their favor. Andrew argued the idea that casinos supply oxygen to the gaming floor so that players continue to play and don’t want to leave.
Where did this myth come from? In the mafia western Fools Die by Mario Puzo (the world-renowned author of The Godfather), the Xanadu casino uses the oxygen supply tactic. An interesting conversation ensued about the casino, legality, oxygen, and much more. Andrew also turned out to be an excellent lawyer. The topics turned out to be so interesting that the men decided to publish them in a magazine.
Mr. Andrew, the lawyer: Why are legality and licensing so important?
Milan Rabszski: The rules for online gambling in Poland are specified in the Gambling Act of November 19, 2009.
The first version of the Act defined a rather serious policy regarding online gambling in Poland. The document established strict requirements for gambling owners. These restrictions have made Polish online gambling one of the most legally restricted in the world.
In 2017, the government began to work on revising the Act. New and modern solutions were adopted. Firstly, the new Gambling Law legalizes online poker for locally licensed operators.
Now, online sports betting is legal in Poland. After all, seven years after the introduction of the first version of the law, it became necessary to officially licensed online bookmakers. The Ministry of Finance is the regulatory body for all gambling activities in Poland, and it has been licensing online sports betting for six years. However, the number of organizations is incredibly small; only four can officially offer sports betting.
Poland also has an Act of July 18, 2002, on the provision of services by electronic software tools – the “Law on Electronic Commerce.” This document regulates all online services in Poland. It can be said that it provides certain rights for legal gambling sites to some extent.
According to the legal Acts of the Polish gambling market, the only forms of gambling that Poles are allowed to partake in are online betting and lotteries. Other gambling games cannot be legally implemented privately, and only Totalizator TotalCasino, a state-owned company, has this exclusive right.
Mr. A: What is the current situation with gambling in Poland?
M. R: Poles are still officially unable to become clients of online casinos that do not belong to the state monopoly. Totalizator Sportowy has recently decided to open a legal online casino. It operates in accordance with Polish law. It is called Total Casino – the only legal Polish online casino. As a member of TotalCasino, you don’t have to worry about legal issues or be afraid of problems with the law. And in Austria?
Mr. A: Gambling is allowed in Austria. The country maintains the strictest monopoly and does not allow foreign companies to organize games. At the same time, Austrian companies are creating casinos in other countries. The exception is poker; it is exempt from the monopoly. Gambling is regulated by the Austrian Gaming Act of 1989.
The main regulatory body is the Ministry of Finance, the division of Tax Collections, Road Taxes, and Gambling. The Ministry of Finance has also created an Agency to protect players. But as far as I know, online casinos in Turkey are outside the scope of the legal field, but few foreign sites accept Turkish players and pay them funds through online payment systems. Even more so, most sites identify the players’ locations and prohibit them from entering. I think it’s just a matter of time. The Turkish authorities will be able to see a big profit in gambling and make it completely legal, at least for tourists.
M. R: In the United States, this business generates more revenue than movies, sports shows, music, and cruises combined. US casinos earn approximately $70 billion a year. The casino turned the desert into Las Vegas. But where there is a casino, the crime rate is about 10% higher than in other places.
Mr. A: I might as well say that you can learn a lot from Belgium. Their authorities concluded that the ban on casinos led to the emergence of a large number of underground gambling clubs. It is impossible to prohibit gambling. It remains only to regulate it by law. And the Belgians have done it since 1999. They have legal land-based casinos and since 2011 – online casinos. Their activities are strictly regulated by law, which has positive aspects. This business is developing and brings profit to the state.
M. R: The fight against illegal casinos has been going on in Russia for a long time. Online gambling was banned back in 2006. Companies and entrepreneurs to whom Russians transferred money to participate in gambling were blacklisted by the Federal Tax Service.
They also approved a law that allows the extrajudicial blocking of sites that transfer money to online casinos and illegal lotteries. According to the law, a register has been created that contains foreign banks and people who transfer money to prohibited gambling organizers.
Mr. A: In Germany, the provision of gambling services is carried out in accordance with legislative acts adopted separately by each district’s administration. They all differ and contradict each other.
Regarding online casinos, most countries have not passed laws allowing virtual gambling establishments to function legally. German casinos http://topkasynoonline.com/republika-niemiec/ do not allow foreign operators to provide services in the country.
Moreover, the national market does not involve the operation of private online establishments in Germany. The platforms on which bets can be placed belong to the state.
M. R: In 1964, the Netherlands allowed gambling for money in licensed establishments, but after the intervention of the European Union in 2012, the situation drastically changed.
Since 2021, taxes have come from the gambling business to the country’s budget, but not all online establishments in the country can boast of having a license to work. Due to the growth of illegal online games over the past few years, the Dutch government has decided that players need some protection from shadow corporations. Therefore, the law is aimed at creating fair terms for players and stopping fraud. Operators are required to comply with these rules; otherwise, they will not be able to conduct business. One of these measures is the need for each operator to join the Central Registry to ensure that blacklisted players cannot gamble.
Mr. A: And how are things in Poland for online casinos?
M. R: Online casino owners have to buy the appropriate license from the Polish government. All others will be entered in the Register of Prohibited Sites. The sites listed in the registry are illegal for Polish players: registering and playing for money here will be considered a crime.
Some online casinos change their domain instead of using the one entered in the registry. As long as the new domain has not yet been found and is not included in the registry, you can work for quite a long time.
Blocking an online casino site depends on the online casino operator and the casino owner himself. If this Polish online casino is available in Polish, has not acquired a license yet, and its advertising is located in Poland, then the site should soon be entered into the register. The state monitors this, and the register is updated. If the site is blocked, but you still want to try your luck, you can use a VPN. I do not recommend it, as you are at risk and may be punished by law.
Mr. A: What threatens a player who violates the law?
M. R: The violator must return all the prizes acquired illegally to the state treasury. At the same time, the rates will not be reduced. The player also faces a fine of up to 3 million Zloty.
Some Conclusions
For more than half of the inhabitants of our planet, access to gambling is completely closed or restricted. In 60 countries, online games are legalized and regulated by specialized government services. The attitude to gambling differs between countries.
There are often quite controversial and even strange laws governing the activities of such places. For example, in some countries, citizens are prohibited from playing for money, and only tourists visit the casino. In others, only citizens with a high level of wealth can enter casinos. The bureaucracy does not keep up with the development of the market, so in some countries, operators take advantage of the absence of a ban on the latest types of gambling.
Let’s Get to Know Milan Rabszski a Bit Closer
Milan Rabszski is an owner and the main expert of the TopKasynoOnline, which is his personal pet project, and he works hard to see it bloom. The inspiring motto of the company, and simultaneously, its main concept, is stworzono przez Polaków dla Polaków (created by Poles for Poles. Milan’s team tirelessly aims to realize this mission by taking a professional approach.
We are proud that we have improved the system of internal transactions, and now all the most common payment methods in Poland are now available to our customers: Blik, Przelewy24, Paysafecard, Bitcoin, and Ecopayz.
You can follow our experts’ podcasts on TopKasynoOnline for more useful info and insights. Reach out to our consulting crew in Złota 59, 00-120 Warsaw, call the portal manager at +48 22 595 14 00, or simply send an email to topkasynoonline@gmail.com.
Note: Unfortunately, on the issue date of this article (March 2022), the legalization of the private gambling industry is undergoing a number of difficulties in Poland, so the content in this article is used only for informational purposes and is available to users outside of Poland.