More operators are leaving Poland’s newly regulated online gambling market, local media has reported. It has become known that the entire iPoker network has been closed for Poland-based players.
William Hill and bet365, whose poker operations are part of the Playtech-powered network, exited the Eastern European country back in March, right ahead of the implementation of its new gambling framework. Poland’s new gaming and sports betting regulations came into effect on April 1, 2017.
With the whole iPoker network leaving the local market, operators like Titan Poker and bet-at-home, will too no longer be available to Poles. GPWA forum members have informed the iGaming community that some of the operators had failed to notify their players for their upcoming departure from Poland in due time and manner. It is also understood that iPoker skins were closed to Polish players on April 24.
Major gambling operators and service providers usually stick to regulated jurisdictions and the regulation of one market or another is an event welcomed by industry insiders. However, the regulation of the Polish gambling market was an event less welcomed.
Although the government of Poland had claimed that it would introduce a more liberal regulatory framework that would attract gambling-related investment in the country and would provide local players with more options, the case was slightly different.
Taxation has become probably the biggest problem of Poland’s new regulatory regime. Under the country’s new gambling law, each licensed gambling operator is taxed at 12% on annual turnover. In comparison, most of the other regulated jurisdictions use gross gambling revenue as a tax base. Thus, taxing operators on turnover has turned Poland into a somewhat unfriendly, tax-heavy market that is avoided and will likely continue being avoided by major industry players. And fewer operators means fewer gambling options for local customers.
The country’s new gambling law has indeed diversified the local market, legalizing the provision of online casino games as well as bingo and poker. Poker, in particular, is a topic that needs to be dwelt upon a bit more for the purposes of this article.
Prior to the introduction of the new regulatory regime, poker was only played in Polish land-based casinos. With the new regulations, live poker tournaments may take place outside brick-and-mortar casinos as long as organizers of such tournaments had obtained the necessary license. Playing online poker is also legal. However, the provision of this particular game falls under the purview of the state monopoly. In other words, international online poker operators can no longer operate in the country, at least not legally.
Polish authorities have warned that all unlicensed and unauthorized operators will be blocked from the country no later than July 1, 2017.
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