Online gambling blooms despite Government’s ban
The number of online gamblers has bloomed in Poland even though the Polish Government introduced a ban of online gambling last year.
According to the Warsaw Business Journal, by the end of 2010, the amount spent by Polish citizens on online gambling will have reached Zloty 4 billion (GBP 887,782,877). This will be an increase of 20 percent compared to 2009, when online gambling was proclaimed illegal, reported anonymous bookmakers quoted by daily Dziennik Gazeta Prawna. Another interesting data about last year is that in those 12 months Poles spent 50 percent more money on online gambling (Zloty 3.2 billion, i.e. GBP 710,226,301) than in high street casinos and betting shops.
In search for a solution, the government suggests passing an amendment to the existing bill in December. Based on this amendment, sites that promote their products and services in Polish should fall under the Polish law jurisdictions, no matter where they’re based, and players gambling on those sites may end up under prosecution for playing there.