Poland

Poland runs a mixed model: online sports betting is open to private operators, but online casino and slots are a state monopoly operated through Total Casino (Totalizator Sportowy). Regulation sits with the Ministry of Finance's Department of Gambling Market Regulation rather than a dedicated gambling authority. Private operators can obtain a six-year online betting licence for fixed-odds products, while land-based casinos run under separate concessions. The tax model is unusual and burdensome for betting: a 12% tax on turnover rather than GGR, which weighs heavily on margins, alongside a player-winnings tax reportedly rising from 10% to 15% in 2026 - a figure drawn from a single secondary source and therefore pending confirmation. A switch to GGR-based taxation has been discussed but not adopted. The online-casino monopoly is the defining constraint: with a high black-market share, liberalisation has been debated through 2025-2026, but no draft bill has emerged and reform is considered unlikely before the 2027 elections. Recent activity includes a new gambling-market regulation department created in October 2024, an inter-ministerial anti-grey-market team convened in April 2025, and a December 2025 draft bill on loot boxes. For operators, Poland offers a licensed sportsbook opportunity undercut by a punitive turnover tax and a closed casino segment dominated by a state operator and a large unlicensed market. The strategic question is whether casino liberalisation eventually arrives - a prospect repeatedly floated but politically stalled.