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Gambling in Poland: Laws and Online Gambling

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Online gambling in Poland: laws and player risks

Elodie explains online casino rules in Poland, the evidence on player enforcement, offshore risks and how to assess available options. Checked 8 November 2026.

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Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Poland regulates gambling through a single national statute, the Gambling Act of 19 November 2009, which combines a state monopoly with a limited licensing system. Online, only two products may be offered by private licensed companies: mutual betting (sports and virtual-event betting) and promotional lotteries. Every other form of online gambling, including online casino games, is reserved to the state. This guide explains how that system developed, how it is enforced, what it means for players, and which reforms were under discussion in 2025 and 2026.

Key points

The Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 is the governing statute; its current consolidated text was published as Dziennik Ustaw 2025, item 595.
Online casino games, online lotteries and slot machines outside casinos form a state monopoly operated by Totalizator Sportowy. Private companies may be licensed only for online betting and promotional lotteries.
The Minister of Finance keeps a public register of unlawful gambling domains. Internet providers must block listed domains within 48 hours, and payment providers must stop serving them within 30 days.
Playing with an unlicensed operator from Polish territory is itself a fiscal offence under Article 107 § 2 of the Fiscal Penal Code, punishable by a fine.
Winnings from lawful games above PLN 2,280 are taxed at 10%. A bill to raise the rate to 15% was vetoed by the President in December 2025.

Regional overview: Gambling laws in the EU and the rest of Europe puts all 55 countries and territories on one map, grouped by how they regulate gambling.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

Historical development

The present framework dates from the Gambling Act (ustawa o grach hazardowych) adopted on 19 November 2009. The Act replaced earlier, looser rules and imposed tight controls on casinos and gaming machines. Its compatibility with EU law was soon challenged. In 2012 the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) held, in Fortuna and Others (C-213/11, C-214/11 and C-217/11), that Polish provisions confining low-prize gaming machines to casinos and gaming arcades could be “technical regulations”. Such rules must be notified to the European Commission before adoption if they significantly influence the nature or marketing of the product. The Court left it to the Polish courts to decide whether that test was met.

The decisive change for online gambling came with an amending act passed in December 2016, which took effect on 1 April 2017. According to the Supreme Audit Office (NIK), the amendment introduced state monopolies on online gambling and on slot machines outside casinos, and created the register of unlawful gambling domains. NIK reported that the register held about 5,000 entries by December 2018 and 7,140 by August 2019. It also found that, in 2018, the illegal online betting market (PLN 4 billion) was still slightly larger than the legal one (PLN 3.9 billion), although the legal market was growing faster.

The monopoly and the blocking mechanism were later tested before the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA). In judgments of May and June 2022, summarised by WH Partners, the NSA held that the state monopoly introduced in 2017 and the procedure for entering domains in the register are compatible with EU law.

Legal framework

Illustrated Poland landmarks with reference books and documents for the legal framework section

The Gambling Act is the central statute. Its consolidated text (Dz.U. 2025, item 595) sets out three key rules for the internet:

Online monopoly. Article 5(1b) provides that organising gambling over the internet, except mutual betting and promotional lotteries, is covered by the state monopoly.
Casino games offline. Article 14(1) allows roulette-type (“cylindrical”) games, card games, dice games and slot machine games to be organised only in licensed casinos, outside the areas reserved to the monopoly.
Age limit. Under Article 27(1), only adults aged 18 or over may enter gambling venues. The Ministry of Finance applies the same limit to online games.

A “monopoly” here means that the law reserves an activity to one state-designated entity. No private company may obtain a licence for it. In Poland, the monopoly is exercised by the state-owned company Totalizator Sportowy Sp. z o.o. The Ministry of Finance lists its exclusive scope as number games, cash lotteries, telebingo, slot machine games outside casinos, and online gambling other than betting and promotional lotteries.

The Act is supported by the Fiscal Penal Code (Kodeks karny skarbowy) of 10 September 1999. This code makes it an offence to organise unlawful gambling or to take part in it. Taxation of operators is governed by Chapter 7 of the Gambling Act, and taxation of players’ winnings by the Personal Income Tax Act.

EU law context

Poland has been an EU member since 2004. There is no EU legislation specific to gambling services. As the European Commission explains, member states may choose their own model, from monopoly to multi-operator licensing, and “no particular system is favoured over the others”. National rules must nevertheless respect the Treaty freedoms, especially the freedom to provide services, as interpreted by the CJEU. A foreign licence issued in another member state therefore does not entitle an operator to serve Polish customers.

Regulator and licensing model

Poland has no separate gambling regulator. Policy, licensing and the domain register sit with the Minister of Finance, and enforcement is carried out by the tax and customs administration. NIK’s 2019 audit, for example, describes the Opole Customs and Tax Office checking that internet and payment providers complied with blocking orders. The licensing model has three main instruments:

Concessions for casinos. According to CMS’s guide to Polish gambling law, casino concessions are granted for six years.
Permits for mutual betting, including online betting, and for cash bingo halls, also valid for six years.
Permits for lotteries such as promotional lotteries, granted for the duration of the game and up to two years.

The Ministry’s report on the implementation of the Gambling Act in 2024 gives the size of the licensed market. At the end of 2024 there were 49 operating casinos, up from 47 in 2023. Nineteen permits covered online betting, down from 22 a year earlier. A further 23 permits covered 1,312 land-based betting points. The report also recorded 7,599 slot machines in the monopoly’s gaming halls and 2,758 in casinos.

The same report shows how dominant the monopoly has become. It records gambling receipts (przychody) of PLN 94.1 billion in 2024, an increase of 26.6% on 2023. Of that total, PLN 69.0 billion (73.3%) came from monopoly games, and PLN 50.6 billion from online casino games offered by the monopoly. Gaming tax revenue reached PLN 5.27 billion in 2024, 17.7% more than in 2023.

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

In practice, Polish law allows four kinds of online gambling. These are online betting with a licensed bookmaker, promotional lotteries, online lotteries and number games run by the monopoly, and online casino games run by the monopoly. CMS notes that the monopoly’s online casino offers online versions of slot machine games, card games and roulette. Online poker and casino games offered by any other operator are not permitted.

The register of unlawful domains

Poland’s main enforcement tool is the Register of Domains Used to Offer Gambling Games Contrary to the Act, kept by the Minister of Finance under Article 15f of the Act. Once a domain is entered:

telecommunications operators must block access within 48 hours and redirect users to a Ministry warning page. This is known as “DNS or IP blocking”, meaning that the internet provider stops resolving or routing traffic to the listed address;
payment service providers must stop providing payment services to the listed domain within 30 days (Article 15g);
a telecoms operator or payment provider that fails to comply can be fined up to PLN 250,000.

The register has grown quickly. The Ministry’s 2024 report records 47,960 domains by the end of 2024, of which 8,712 were added during that year. Most were added for offering unlawful gambling, and 394 for unlawful promotion. In March 2026 the Ministry put the total at more than 53,000 domains in a reply to a parliamentary question. In May 2026 the Ministry told the Polish Press Agency, as reported by Bankier.pl, that the register held more than 55,000 entries and was growing by about 700 domains a month. The same report gave the grey-market share of online gambling as 58.6% in 2017 and 29.1% in 2024. NIK has identified a persistent weakness: “clone” domains that copy a blocked site under a slightly different name. In 2019 it found that such clones sometimes stayed accessible for between 9 and 57 working days before being listed.

Advertising

Advertising and promotion of casino-type games, slot machine games and mutual betting is prohibited, with narrow exceptions for licensed betting operators. CMS also notes that advertisements may not suggest a link between gambling and sexual attractiveness, relaxation, work, or personal or financial success. A comparative guide by Penteris adds that television betting advertisements may be broadcast only between 10 pm and 6 am, except during live sports broadcasts. Promoting unlawful gambling can itself lead to a domain being added to the register.

Position of players

Poland is one of the few EU states where taking part in unlawful gambling is itself an offence. Article 107 § 2 of the Fiscal Penal Code provides that anyone who, on Polish territory, takes part in a foreign game of chance is liable to a fine of up to 120 daily rates. Under § 4, minor cases are treated as a fiscal misdemeanour with a lower fine. The Ministry of Finance states that players bear fiscal-penal liability for taking part in unlawful gambling. It also explains that a foreign licence or a Polish-language website does not replace a Polish authorisation.

Separately, the Ministry’s register page notes that a participant in a game organised contrary to the Act faces an administrative penalty equal to 100% of the winnings. This applies in addition to possible fiscal-penal liability.

Enforcement statistics show that the system is used, although the figures available do not separate players from organisers. In 2024, according to the Ministry’s report, 1,467 fiscal-penal proceedings were opened under the gambling provisions and courts handed down 734 sentences with penalties totalling about PLN 7.0 million. Readers should not assume from these totals how often individual players are pursued. Players should also note the practical risks set out by the Ministry: no guarantee that winnings will be paid, possible misuse of personal and payment data, and no recourse to a Polish supervisor.

Taxation

Operators

Operators pay a gaming tax under Article 74 of the Gambling Act. The rates are:

Type of game	Tax rate
Raffle lotteries and raffle bingo	10%
Cash lotteries	15%
Number games	20%
Cash bingo, telebingo, audiotele lotteries and poker tournaments	25%
Slot machine, cylindrical, dice and card games (other than poker tournaments)	50%
Mutual betting on animal races	2.5%
Other mutual betting	12%

The tax base differs by game. For betting, the 12% applies to the total amount staked, often called a “turnover tax”. For casino-type games, it applies to the difference between stakes and winnings paid. The burden on betting operators is a recurring subject of debate. iGaming Business reported in July 2026 that industry commentators regard the turnover tax as among the highest in Europe.

Players

Winnings from games lawfully organised in Poland or in another EU or EEA state are exempt from personal income tax where a single win does not exceed PLN 2,280. This rule in Article 21(1)(6a) of the Personal Income Tax Act has been in force since 1 January 2018, as explained by the law firm Galiński & Kleina and Kancelaria Skarbiec. Larger winnings are taxed at a flat 10%, withheld by the organiser. The exemption depends on the game being lawfully organised, so it does not cover winnings from unlicensed sites.

In 2025 the government proposed raising the rate to 15%. The bill passed the Sejm and the Senate, as Polsat News reported on 5 December 2025. On 18 December 2025 wnp.pl reported that President Karol Nawrocki had vetoed the bill that combined the higher winnings tax with an increased sugar levy. The 10% rate therefore remained in place. In July 2026 iGaming Business confirmed that the increase had not taken effect.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Secure account login with a padlock and shield Licensed online operators must identify every player when the account is opened. Under Article 15a(3) of the Act they must record the player’s name, identity document, PESEL number, address and citizenship. The Ministry’s 2024 report describes further obligations on online operators, including self-exclusion tools and limits set when an account is created. Unlike the Czech Republic or Romania, Poland does not appear to operate a central cross-operator self-exclusion register; we found no such register in the official sources reviewed.

Part of the gaming tax revenue finances the Fund for Solving Gambling Problems (Fundusz Rozwiązywania Problemów Hazardowych). According to the Ministry, PLN 16.4 million was transferred to it in 2024. Treatment and prevention are coordinated by the National Centre for Counteracting Addictions (KCPU). Its behavioural addictions service runs a confidential helpline on 801 889 880, open daily from 17:00 to 22:00 including weekends, and offers remote consultations with therapists. General guidance is also available in our responsible gambling guide.

At EU level, Commission Recommendation 2014/478/EU sets out non-binding principles on registration, age verification, self-exclusion, spending limits and advertising. Polish law already covers most of these through statute rather than guidance.

Recent and upcoming developments

Winnings tax. The rise from 10% to 15% was adopted by Parliament but vetoed in December 2025 (see above).
Loot boxes. In December 2025 MPs from Poland 2050 tabled a draft amendment to classify paid loot boxes in video games as gambling. The draft would require licensing, age verification and disclosure of reward odds. iGaming Expert reported that consultations were due to start in January 2026. In a reply to a parliamentary question dated 5 March 2026, the Ministry of Finance said it was not itself working on changes to the categories of games covered by the Act, and pointed to the EU’s planned Digital Fairness Act. It added that sites selling loot boxes linked to games that meet the statutory definition of gambling are already entered in the domain register. We found no record that the MPs’ draft had been adopted by October 2026.
Market structure debate. Industry representatives argue that licensed bookmakers should be allowed to offer online casino games and that betting should be taxed on gross gaming revenue rather than turnover. Totalizator Sportowy’s advisers argue that liberalisation would not reduce the black market. Analysts quoted by iGaming Business in July 2026 said that reform was not on the political agenda, with the next parliamentary elections due in 2027. As of October 2026 no government bill to end the online casino monopoly had been adopted (iGaming Business, July 2026).
Blocking. The Ministry continues to add about 700 domains a month to the register (May 2026).

Sources and further reading

Sejm of the Republic of Poland, Ustawa z dnia 19 listopada 2009 r. o grach hazardowych, consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 poz. 595 (2025).
Ministry of Finance, Legalne gry hazardowe przez internet (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Rejestr domen służących do oferowania gier hazardowych niezgodnie z ustawą (accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Informacja o realizacji ustawy o grach hazardowych w 2024 roku (2025).
Fiscal Penal Code, Article 107, Kodeks karny skarbowy (accessed 5 October 2026).
Gambling Act, Article 74: tax rates (accessed 5 October 2026).
Supreme Audit Office (NIK), To nie koniec walki z nielegalnym hazardem (2019).
Court of Justice of the European Union, Fortuna and Others, Joined Cases C-213/11, C-214/11 and C-217/11 (2012).
Lejman, E. (WH Partners), Poland’s Top Court Rules On The Compatibility Of The Polish Gambling Act With European Union Law (2022).
CMS, Gambling laws in Poland (accessed 5 October 2026).
CMS (Olejnik, M. and Koryzma, T.), Online gambling regulation in Poland (2023).
Kociszewska, M. (Penteris), Poland: Gambling comparative guide (accessed 5 October 2026).
Galiński & Kleina, Zmiany w opodatkowaniu wygranych w grach hazardowych (2018, updated 2024).
Kancelaria Skarbiec, Podatek od loterii, gier, konkursów oraz pokera online (accessed 5 October 2026).
Polsat News, Wyższy podatek od 2026 roku. Możesz zapłacić więcej za wygraną (2025).
wnp.pl, Podwyżek tych podatków nie będzie. Prezydent Nawrocki zawetował kolejne ustawy (2025).
Bankier.pl / PAP, Wielkie czystki w polskiej sieci. 55 tysięcy domen na “czarnej liście” fiskusa (2026).
iGaming Business, Poland in focus: Tax woes weigh heavily on an otherwise exciting market (2026).
National Centre for Counteracting Addictions (KCPU), Uzależnienia Behawioralne (accessed 5 October 2026).
European Commission, Gambling and Recommendation 2014/478/EU on online gambling (2014; accessed 5 October 2026).
Ministry of Finance, Odpowiedź na interpelację nr 15447 (2026).

Casino listings for players in Poland

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