Online casino gambling a thing of the past for Poland

Playing online casino games in Poland is set to become a thing of the past as the Polish government decide to ban all online gambling.  The new bill has just been rushed through the Polish Parliament and seems like a knee jerk reaction by the Prime Minister, Donald Tusk in response to allegations of government corruption.  Prime Minister Tusk has also removed certain members of the government who had been involved in keeping taxes from gambling at a set level.  This was in response to rumours of some government minister’s being in the pay of those involved in the gambling industry.

The new laws in Poland will outlaw all gambling online with the implementation of new stricter rules regarding the playing of casino style slot machines.  These machines are now only allowed in casinos and not in other locations such as bars and cafes which they were previously allowed.  It is anticipated that the new law will mean that in the region of 50,000 casino games machines will now have to be removed from other types of premises as the owners will no longer be legally entitled to provide the service to the general public.  The new rules are also expected to outlaw all gambling for those under the age of 18.

The rumours of corruption have dogged the Tusk government recently and the damage limitation exercise was rushed through the senate with a vote of 48 to 3, with 30 deciding to abstain from voting.  The President still requires to rubber stamp the changes to the law but it is felt that this is a foregone conclusion with the new laws becoming a reality very shortly.  It is understood that there are concerns on how the removal of casino games machines will happen and also how the Government proposes to police the online gambling ban.