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Sovereign state
Europe
ISO PL

Poland: gambling regulation and licensing

Republic of Poland

  • Online sports bettingRegulated
  • Online casinoMonopoly
  • Online pokerMonopoly
  • Online bingoMonopoly
  • iLotteryMonopoly
  • Horse race bettingRegulated
  • Land-based (reference)Regulated
Regulator
Ministry of Finance
Headline tax
50% GGR
Licence required
Yes
Last verified
23 Sept 2026

Summary

Poland regulates gambling under the Act of 19 November 2009 on gambling games. The Ministry of Finance licenses operators and the National Revenue Administration (KAS) enforces the Act. Since 1 April 2017 all gambling over the internet has been a state monopoly, with two exceptions: mutual betting and promotional lotteries. Online casino, slots, card games and online lottery are reserved to the state-owned Totalizator Sportowy, which runs totalcasino.pl and lotto.pl. Private operators can obtain a six-year permit for online betting. They must use a .pl domain, archive all game data in the EU or EEA with remote access for KAS, lodge PLN 480,000 of financial security and operate through a Polish company or, for EU and EEA companies, a Polish representative or branch. The ministry listed 17 lawful online bookmakers in August 2026. Betting is taxed at 12% of stakes (2.5% for betting on animal competitions under a dedicated permit), while casino, card and machine games pay 50% of gross gaming revenue. Players pay 10% tax on winnings, with betting wins up to PLN 2,280 exempt. Advertising is banned for casino games, machines and betting, except licensed betting on the conditions in Article 29b, which include no broadcast advertising between 06:00 and 22:00 outside sponsored sports coverage. Enforcement is heavy. The ministry's register held 57,711 blocked domains on 23 September 2026; internet providers must block a listed domain within 48 hours and payment providers must stop serving it within 30 days. Players in unlicensed games face a penalty of 100% of their winnings. In 2024 online betting stakes were PLN 14.9 billion and the monopoly's online casino took PLN 50.6 billion in stakes.

Common pitfalls

Assuming an EU or other foreign licence allows serving Polish players: every online product except betting and promotional lotteries is a state monopoly, and unlicensed domains are blocked and their players fined. Modelling Polish betting tax on revenue: it is 12% of stakes. Reading the ministry's revenue figures as gross gaming revenue: they are stakes.

Key facts

Regulator
Ministry of Finance (MF)
Regulator type
Government ministry
Headline tax
50% GGR
Licence required
Yes
Minimum age
18+
Tax base
Game tax (podatek od gier) under arts. 73 and 74. Mutual betting: 12% of the sum of stakes paid, or 2.5% for betting on animal competitions under a permit for that betting only. Machine, roulette, dice and card games (including the monopoly online casino): 50% of stakes less winnings paid. Other rates: number games 20% of stakes, cash lotteries 15% of ticket sales, cash bingo, telebingo, audiotext lotteries and poker tournaments 25%, raffle lotteries and raffle bingo 10%. Promotional lotteries are not taxed. The ggrTaxRate recorded here is the casino-side rate and does not apply to licensed betting.
Capital
Warsaw
Currency
PLN
Official languages
Polish

Licensing

Licence required
Yes
Application window
Rolling
Local establishment required
Not yet verified
Local server required
No
Local domain required
.pl
Active licences
19 (as of 31 Dec 2024)
Typical time to licence
The Act gives the minister 6 months from the application to decide (art. 40(1)).
Bank guarantee or bond
Financial security of PLN 480,000 for betting over the internet (art. 63(2a)); PLN 40,000 for betting shops and PLN 1,200,000 for casinos, multiplied by bands of outlets (art. 63(1) and (2)). It may be a bank or insurance guarantee or a cash deposit (art. 63(3)).
Notable licensees
E-TOTO Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (etoto.pl), FORTUNA Online Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (efortuna.pl), STS S.A. (sts.pl), Traf Zaklady Wzajemne Sp. z o.o. (trafonline.pl), LV BET Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (lvbet.pl), SUPERBET Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (superbet.pl), TOTALBET Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (totalbet.pl), forBET Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (iforbet.pl), Cherry Online Polska Sp. z o.o. (pzbuk.pl, comeon.pl), BEM Operations Limited, through its representative Gaming in Poland Sp. z o.o. (betclic.pl), BetFan Sp. z o.o. (betfan.pl), Betsport Zaklady Bukmacherskie Sp. z o.o. (betsport.pl), Bukmacherska Sp. z o.o. (fuksiarz.pl), FUN PROJECT Sp. z o.o. (lebull.pl), Silesia Entertainment Sp. z o.o. (betters.pl), Wett Arena Polska Sp. z o.o. (wettarena.pl), NOVOBET Sp. z o.o. (admiralbet.pl)
Certification requirements
Online operators must archive all game, transaction and player identification data in real time on a device in Poland or another EU or EEA state and give KAS remote access (art. 15d(3) to (5)); a responsible gaming policy must be approved by the minister (art. 15i(2)). Gaming machines and devices are tested by bodies authorised by the minister (art. 23f).
Barriers to entry
Only betting and promotional lotteries are open to private operators online. A betting operator must be a Polish joint-stock or limited liability company with share capital of at least PLN 2,000,000 (arts. 6(5) and 10(1)), or an EU or EEA company acting through a Polish representative or branch (art. 7a). Members of the management and supervisory boards of a Polish company must be nationals of the EU, EEA or an OECD state (art. 11(1)(2)), betting on sports results needs the consent of the national organiser (art. 31(2)), and the 12% tax falls on stakes, not revenue. The ministry held 19 online betting permits at the end of 2024 and listed 17 lawful online bookmakers on 24 August 2026.

Licence types

  • Permit to organise mutual betting (zezwolenie na urządzanie zakładów wzajemnych)

    Scope
    Bookmaking and totalisator betting in land-based betting shops and, where the permit says so, online on the .pl websites named in it (arts. 6(3), 41(3) and 43).
    Term
    6 years
    Fee basis
    Permit fee of 2,000% of the base amount, plus 2,000% for betting over the internet, 5,000% for each website and 50% for each betting shop (art. 69(1)(3)). The base amount is the average monthly wage in the enterprise sector, excluding profit bonuses, in the second quarter of the previous year (art. 70).
    Renewal terms
    May be extended once for a further 6 years on application (art. 49(5)).
  • Casino concession (koncesja na prowadzenie kasyna gry)

    Scope
    One land-based casino with roulette, card, dice and machine games; no online equivalent for private operators.
    Term
    6 years
    Fee basis
    Concession fee of 32,000% of the base amount (art. 69(1)(1)).
  • Permit for a cash bingo hall (zezwolenie na prowadzenie salonu gry bingo pieniezne)

    Scope
    One land-based bingo hall.
    Term
    6 years
    Fee basis
    Permit fee of 5,500% of the base amount (art. 69(1)(2)).
    Renewal terms
    May be extended once for 6 years (art. 49(5)).
  • Permit for a promotional or audiotext lottery

    Scope
    Promotional and audiotext lotteries, granted by the director of the competent revenue administration chamber; promotional lotteries may run online.
    Term
    The duration of the lottery, up to 2 years
    Fee basis
    10% of the prize pool, and at least 50% of the base amount (art. 69(1)(5)).

Taxation

Headline GGR tax
50% GGR
Effective date
Not yet verified
Turnover tax
12%
Player winnings tax
Flat income tax of 10% on winnings from games and mutual bets obtained in the EU or EEA (PIT Act art. 30(1)(2)). Single winnings of up to PLN 2,280 in betting, number games, cash lotteries, telebingo and promotional, audiotext and raffle lotteries are exempt, and winnings from machine, card, dice, roulette and bingo games run by an operator authorised under EU or EEA gambling law are exempt in full (art. 21(1)(6a)).
Withholding mechanism
Operators declare and pay the game tax monthly by the 10th day of the following month (art. 75(1)). The 10% winnings tax is withheld by the paying operator (PIT Act art. 41(4)).
Tax base
Game tax (podatek od gier) under arts. 73 and 74. Mutual betting: 12% of the sum of stakes paid, or 2.5% for betting on animal competitions under a permit for that betting only. Machine, roulette, dice and card games (including the monopoly online casino): 50% of stakes less winnings paid. Other rates: number games 20% of stakes, cash lotteries 15% of ticket sales, cash bingo, telebingo, audiotext lotteries and poker tournaments 25%, raffle lotteries and raffle bingo 10%. Promotional lotteries are not taxed. The ggrTaxRate recorded here is the casino-side rate and does not apply to licensed betting.

Earmarked levies

  • Surcharges on monopoly games (doplaty): 25% of the stake in number games; 10% of the stake or ticket price in cash lotteries and telebingo (art. 80(1)) (Physical Culture Development Fund 75%, Culture Promotion Fund 20%, Civil Society Development Fund 4%, Gambling Problems Fund 1% (arts. 86 to 88a))

Compliance

Minimum age
18+
National self-exclusion
Not yet verified
KYC timing
Registration and age verification before play; AML due diligence when the business relationship starts and on stakes or winnings of EUR 2,000 or more, single or linked.
AML regime
Gambling operators are obliged institutions under the AML Act of 1 March 2018. Applicants for a permit must document compliance with AML rules (art. 34a), and a permit may be refused where the security services or the GIIF raise justified concerns about shareholders or managers (art. 11).
AML supervisor
General Inspector of Financial Information (GIIF), with controls also carried out by heads of customs and tax offices (AML Act art. 130).
Central monitoring system
Online operators must archive in real time all data needed to establish the course and result of games, transactions and player identity, with remote access for KAS to read and copy them (art. 15d(3) to (5)).
Data localisation
Equipment that processes and archives online game and player data must be in an EU or EEA state (art. 15d(1)); data are kept for 5 years after the end of the year of archiving (art. 15d(7)).
KYC requirements
Online operators must verify that players are 18 or over and require registration on a player account or temporary player account before play (art. 15i(1)(2) and (3)); the betting permit sets the age-verification rules (art. 43(1)(4)(b)). As AML obliged institutions they apply customer due diligence (AML Act arts. 2(1)(20) and 35).
Stake limits
Not yet verified
Mandatory player messaging
Gambling websites must display the operator's identity and contact details, the permit's scope, validity and issuing authority, the game rules, the ban on play by under-18s, information on gambling risks and the names of help organisations with links (art. 15i(1)(1)). Operators must offer tools that let players control their activity and prevent play once the account balance is exhausted (art. 15i(1)(4) and (5)).
Reporting obligations
Monthly game tax returns by the 10th of the following month (art. 75); quarterly economic and financial data to the licensing authority by the 21st day after each quarter (art. 79(2)).
Game content restrictions
Betting on the results of number games is prohibited (art. 31(1)); bets on sports results need the consent of the national organiser of the competition (art. 31(2)); banking products such as loans may not be offered or advertised on a gambling website (art. 29c).

Advertising

Advertising permitted
Yes
Watershed
Betting advertising may not be shown on television or radio, or in cinemas and theatres, between 06:00 and 22:00, except during broadcasts of sports events that the operator sponsors or in which a team or player it sponsors takes part (art. 29b(2)(1)).
Affiliate rules
Affiliates are not licensed. The ban applies to anyone who commissions, carries out or places advertising or profits from it (art. 29(4)), and domains used to advertise or promote unlawful gambling can be entered in the blocking register (art. 15f(4)(1)(b)).
Sponsorship rules
Sponsorship communication using the name or trade mark of casino, card, dice, machine or betting brands is prohibited (art. 29(2)). An operator active only in betting, or in betting and unrestricted activities, may be identified as a sponsor by its name or other distinguishing mark only (art. 29(3)).
Celebrity and influencer rules
The Act has no influencer-specific rule. Betting advertising may not be aimed at, show or involve minors (art. 29b(1)(1)), and promotion covers any public encouragement to take part (art. 29(7)), so third-party promotion is caught by the same rules.
Social media rules
The Act has no platform-specific rules; arts. 29 and 29b apply to advertising in any medium. In 2024 KAS identified 3,994 web pages in 167 domains with prohibited gambling content; hosting providers removed or blocked it on 458 pages in 14 domains.
Mandatory warnings
Betting advertising must include messages on the consequences of taking part in illegal gambling, on the risks of gambling and on the operator holding a betting permit (art. 29b(3)); the health minister may set the wording by regulation (art. 29b(4)).
Penalties for breach
Commissioning, carrying out or placing unlawful gambling advertising or sponsorship information, or profiting from it, is a fiscal offence punishable by a fine of up to 720 daily rates, or a fiscal misdemeanour in minor cases (Fiscal Penal Code art. 110a).

Restrictions

  • Advertising and promotion of roulette, card, dice and machine games and of mutual betting is prohibited (art. 29(1)); the ban reaches anyone who commissions, carries out or places it or profits from it (art. 29(4)).
  • Licensed mutual betting may be advertised only if it is not aimed at, does not show and does not involve minors; does not link gambling to physical or intellectual skill or easy wins; does not claim gambling relaxes or solves personal or financial problems; does not portray abstaining negatively; does not encourage higher stakes; and does not evoke sexual attractiveness, relaxation, study or work, or professional, personal or financial success (art. 29b(1)).
  • No betting advertising in youth and children's press, on the covers of newspapers and magazines, or in public places other than mass and sports events the operator sponsors (art. 29b(2)).
  • Advertising inside a casino or betting shop, and on the website named in the permit, falls outside the ban (art. 29(5)).
  • Number games and lotteries run by the state monopoly, and promotional lotteries, are not among the games covered by the art. 29 ban.
  • Loans and similar banking products may not be offered or advertised in slot halls or on gambling websites (art. 29c).

Payments

Credit card ban
Not yet verified
Crypto stance
Not yet verified
Payment blocking regime
Payment service providers may not provide payment services on websites using domains in the register and must stop within 30 days of an entry (art. 15g), on pain of a fine of up to PLN 250,000 (art. 89(1)(5) and (4)(4)). The register feeds payment providers' systems automatically (art. 15f(3)). Licensed online operators must process game payments only through payment service providers authorised under the Payment Services Act (art. 15e).

Enforcement

ISP blocking
Yes
DNS blocking
Yes
Payment blocking
Yes
App store takedowns
Not yet verified
Blocklist size
57,711 (as of 23 Sept 2026)
Administrative penalties
Organising gambling without a permit: five times the relevant permit fee, or PLN 100,000 per machine; breach of permit conditions up to PLN 200,000; payment providers or telecoms that fail to block up to PLN 250,000; organising monopoly games up to PLN 500,000; managers of unlicensed operators up to PLN 100,000 (art. 89).
Criminal penalties
Organising gambling contrary to the Act: a fine of up to 720 daily rates, up to 3 years' imprisonment, or both (Fiscal Penal Code art. 107(1)); unlawful advertising: a fine of up to 720 daily rates (art. 110a).
Operator liability
The Ministry of Finance keeps a public register of domains used to offer, advertise or promote gambling contrary to the Act (art. 15f). Internet access providers must remove listed domains from their DNS systems within 48 hours and redirect users to a ministry warning page, and payment providers must stop serving them within 30 days (arts. 15f(5) and 15g). Unlicensed operators face administrative fines and fiscal penal liability.
Player liability
Taking part in online gambling offered without a Polish permit is prohibited (art. 29a(2)). A player in gambling organised without a concession, permit or notification pays a penalty of 100% of the winnings, not reduced by stakes (art. 89(4)(5)), and taking part in foreign or illegal gambling in Poland is a fiscal offence punishable by a fine of up to 120 daily rates (Fiscal Penal Code arts. 107(2) and 109).

Notable actions

  • Unlawful gambling domains31 Dec 2024

    8,712 domains added to the register in 2024 (8,318 offering gambling, 394 advertising it); more than 47,900 listed at the end of the year

  • Illegal gambling, mainly unlicensed slot machines31 Dec 2024

    KAS seized 4,844 gaming machines in 2024 and opened 1,467 preparatory proceedings for fiscal offences against the organisation of gambling; courts fined 734 offenders a total of PLN 6,983,096

    Fine: zł6,983,096 as of 31 Dec 2024

  • Players of unlicensed online gambling31 Dec 2024

    28 fiscal penal cases in 2024, with charges in 20; 2 convictions with fines of PLN 31,000 and 4 voluntary submissions to penalty with fines of PLN 390,100

  • Online betting permit holders31 Dec 2024

    Two online betting permits withdrawn in 2024 for failing to meet permit conditions and the Act

  • Unlawful gambling domains23 Sept 2026

    57,711 domains listed in the register

Market data

Figures on this record are drawn from official regulator data.

Online GGR
Not yet verified
Reporting year
2024
Licensed operators
18

Timeline

  1. 1 Jan 2010

    Gambling Act of 19 November 2009 enters into force

  2. 1 Apr 2017

    Internet gambling other than betting and promotional lotteries becomes a state monopoly; the domain register is created

  3. 1 Jul 2017

    Internet providers and payment providers must block listed domains

  4. 31 Dec 2024

    Domain register passes 47,900 entries; 19 online betting permits in force

  5. 4 Dec 2025

    MPs lodge a bill to regulate paid loot boxes as a permitted game (print 2356)

  6. 15 Jan 2026

    New casino tender rules apply: bidders declare a three-year tax base

  7. 17 Jun 2026

    Ministry and European regulators warn that unlicensed prediction markets offering bets need a permit

  8. 23 Sept 2026

    57,711 domains listed in the blocking register

  9. 18 Feb 2027

    Registered-shares requirement for casino, bingo and betting companies repealed

Outlook

The MPs' bill on paid loot boxes (print 2356) has had no first reading since December 2025. Enacted changes take effect in 2027: the civil society fund amendment on 1 January, the redefinition of bank branches that may guarantee financial security on 11 January and the end of the registered-shares requirement on 18 February. The ministry's June 2026 statement with other European regulators said prediction markets that meet the statutory definition of gambling need a betting permit, so such platforms operating without one are treated as unlicensed betting.

Frequently asked questions

Is online casino legal in Poland?
Only through the state monopoly. Totalizator Sportowy runs the only lawful online casino, totalcasino.pl; private operators cannot be licensed for online casino, slots or poker.
Can private operators offer online sports betting in Poland?
Yes, with a six-year betting permit from the Ministry of Finance. The operator needs a .pl domain, EU or EEA data archiving with remote access for the tax administration, PLN 480,000 of financial security, and a Polish company or, for EU and EEA companies, a Polish representative or branch.
How is gambling taxed in Poland?
Betting pays 12% of stakes (2.5% for betting on animal competitions under a dedicated permit). Casino, card and machine games pay 50% of stakes less winnings. Players pay 10% on winnings, with betting wins of up to PLN 2,280 exempt.
What happens to players who use unlicensed sites?
Taking part is prohibited. Players face a penalty of 100% of their winnings and a fiscal penal fine of up to 120 daily rates.
Can betting operators advertise in Poland?
Licensed betting operators can, on the conditions in Article 29b: no content aimed at minors, required risk and permit messages, and no television or radio advertising between 06:00 and 22:00 outside sponsored sports coverage. Casino and machine games cannot be advertised.
How does Poland block illegal gambling sites?
Domains go on a public register at hazard.mf.gov.pl. Internet providers must block them within 48 hours and payment providers must stop serving them within 30 days. The register held 57,711 domains on 23 September 2026.

iGT coverage of Poland

Poland's Consumer Watchdog Is Using AI to Hunt Dark Patterns in Betting Apps
Regulatory

Poland's Four Gambling Trade Bodies Reject a 1% EU-Wide Online Gambling Levy

A joint statement from the country's bookmaking and gaming associations says the tax floated for the EU's 2028 to 2034 budget would push players to unlicensed sites and cut, not raise, state revenue, and asks instead for uniform EU rules against illegal operators. Malta and EGBA have already objected; the levy would need every member state's consent.

Poland Wired a Payment Scheme to a Blocklist. Brazil Deputised the Banks
Regulatory

Poland Wired a Payment Scheme to a Blocklist. Brazil Deputised the Banks

BLIK now checks every transaction against the Finance Ministry's register of illegal gambling domains and declines the matches. Brazil is doing the same job by loading obligations onto banks and fintechs instead. Both are admissions that domain blocking stopped working.

Sources

  1. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 6 May 2025
  2. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
  3. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 13 Jan 2017
  4. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 17 Feb 2026
  5. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 14 Sept 2026
  6. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 15 May 2025
  7. System gier hazardowych w Polsce (the gambling system in Poland)

    Ministerstwo Finansow (Ministry of Finance), gov.pl (translated)

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
  8. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 24 Aug 2026
  9. Rejestr Domen Sluzacych do Oferowania Gier Hazardowych Niezgodnie z Ustawa (register of domains offering gambling contrary to the Act)

    Ministerstwo Finansow (Ministry of Finance), gov.pl

    The register showed 57,711 listed domains on 23 September 2026 (the count returned by its own data service). The ICLG figure of about 51,000 for October 2025 and a trade figure of about 35,800 used in the previous record are superseded.

    Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
  10. Informacja o realizacji ustawy o grach hazardowych w roku 2024 (report on the implementation of the Gambling Act in 2024)

    Ministerstwo Finansow (Ministry of Finance), gov.pl (translated)

    The revenue table reports gambling revenues (przychody), which are stakes, not gross gaming revenue; GGR by vertical is not published, so marketData leaves GGR blank.

    Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026
  11. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026
  12. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 17 Jun 2026
  13. Tier 1Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 31 Dec 2025
  14. Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026Published 4 Dec 2025
  15. Legislative process record for print 2356 (stages to date)

    Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Sejm API) (translated)

    Tier 2Accessed 23 Sept 2026

Spotted something out of date? Report a correction.

This page is industry reference information and not legal advice.

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