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Posts Tagged ‘Poland’

Gaming in Poland Still Not Regulated

Wednesday, December 15th, 2010

Poland is another country working with gambling laws. The country was recently in the news for its overwhelming problems with political scandals and gambling. There was a scandal concerning bribery and money laundering the country was under recently. Now that things have been supposedly remedies and those in question have been removed from office, the country is still trying to come up with a workable gaming law. Prime Minister Donald Tusk has traditionally been very conservative with his stance on gambling and is calling for some strict regulatory changes to the market. He already made the move to remove slots games from cafes, clubs, shops, arcades and service stations around the country. The reason that slots were targeted was because a recent study showed that slots may be some of the most addictive games on the market. Plus, their smaller wager requirements may be the very thing that gets gamers in trouble. For example, a gamer knows when they are wagering $50 per deal at a blackjack table. However, if they are wagering at a modest nickel-slot they may not be as keenly aware of how much money they are investing to play and losing at the games. This is why they are considered to be “dangerous” to those who may have an addiction or be prone to gambling addiction.

The addictive nature of slots is what Poland’s legislators are targeting. They are trying to regulate the market by cutting back on land based gambling that may affect their citizens negatively. In the future the country is going to have to look at a viable gambling plan. Though gambling is sure to bring in millions of dollars, there are other concerns that legislators are worried about. Will the increase in gambling automatically increase the numbers of gambling addicts? Will it cause underage people to want to wager? Will it detrimentally affect the market? These are all questions that legislators are posing right now. They have a gambling plan, but are not yet sure that it will continue to be effective as they work with gaming in the market. Only time will tell what changes need to be made and which ones will be truly affective for the market.

Poland Still Pushing for Gambling Plan

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

There are places in the world where gambling is still being modified and tested. Poland is a country that has some issues to deal with regarding its gambling protocols. The country has long been in the middle of problems. If you recall earlier this year there was a scandal involving some of the biggest politicians in the country. They were caught engaging in illegal activities ranging from money laundering, fraud and bribery. It was an embarrassing time for the market and politicians are now trying to make a stand. Polish legislators are trying to clean up their image regarding gambling. Now the country’s legislators are trying to suppress the problems that have gone on by revamping their legislation. Part of the reason for gambling changes in the country is due to the fact that gambling is growing so much in the area. Estimates currently are that the internet gamblers will wager over four billion in polish currency by the end of this year. This is a huge amount for a country is in the midst of financial problems due to the recession. So far this year, gambling has risen by 20% in the country and that means that more and more gamers are taking their own chance at a good win. If it is growing in popularity, then it means that the country has to come up with ways to take advantage of the huge dollars and to also protect the growing gaming market.

One of the high growth markets in the world is gambling and all over the world more and more legislators are pushing for legislation that can manage it. They want to have access to tax revenue dollars, but also to make the project work they have to come up with regulatory law that works for the market. Right now gambling companies are working with legislators to come up with laws that help customers. The Polish market is one that is growing so quickly, it is putting legislators on the defensive. They have to protect new gamers who may not be wise enough to protect themselves as they join in on online gambling fun.

Poland Making More Gambling Changes

Tuesday, November 30th, 2010

One of the questions that many legislators have when dealing with gambling is whether or not citizens are going to follow rules. They can work to create laws that are solid and supposedly protect the gaming public, but are players going to listen? Are they going to shy away from casinos that have issues? Are they going to say no to big promotions if they are from troubled casinos? These questions have to be answered in the market because gamers need to be protected as the legalization and regulation of gambling is moving into the market. Once the door is opened to gambling, there have to be safe places for people to wager or that could create a myriad of other problems to deal with. One country that has been debating the issue out is Poland. If you recall, Polish officials went through some problems as of late. In the past few months more than a few high-profile politicians were caught in a bribery case and left their posts as political officials as a result. This is a sign of how things can change quickly for the market. People can be bribed and people are swayed by changes in the market—that includes officials who are put into power.

Now Poland is making more changes. It now has banned various forms of online gambling activity and that includes poker rooms and online casinos. The ban has translated into taking gambling companies totally out of commission within the country and that is a big blow for the virtual casinos. So why is the government making these moves now? There aren’t many answers and the government isn’t divulging. However, experts are making their own speculations on what is going on. One main reason they could be creating stronger regulations for gaming companies is because the numbers are down in terms of land based gaming companies. The companies are suffering and trying to come up with ways of reinvigorating their own businesses. Part of the reason for their diminishing numbers is the rise in online gambling options the residents of the country have now. The government could be stepping in to mitigate losses. Remember that if a land based casino loses revenue, so does the government because their own tax revenue dollars will be lowered as a result.

Party Poker Hands out Huge Win to 19-Year Old Man

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

The country of Poland has long been pining for gambling. Legislators have allowed the hobby in, but have had a difficult time with regulation. In fact, a few months ago there was a huge political scandal that pushed on the country—legislators were in the midst of the issues and were accused of taking bribes for the purpose of furthering gambling in the country. This caused a lot of problems and left a stain on the country’s foray into gambling. It hopefully won’t be long lasting though. The country now is hoping to erase the sullying activities on its record. It is doing this by changing its gambling model to expand what it can do and what products are available to the market.

There is good news for the gambling market in Poland—there was a big winner to promote. It was Marek Sisnowski of Krakow who walked away with a top prize from Party Poker’s website. He ended up winning an Aston martin DB9 coupe. This is a huge prize for anyone, but for Sisnowski—a 19 year old—it was especially exciting for him to win. Though he loved the prize, in the end he decided to opt for the cash instead of the car. This still was a huge win for the gaming market. It shows the country that players can still walk away with big wins—honestly and companies are going to pay out those big wins. Hopefully it will help to reinvigorate the gaming industry and change the negative perception some residents still have of gambling. of course the problems were a result of the political crookedness, but that still left some people wondering if there were any legal activities going on in the world of gambling and if they could still benefit from playing games. Party Poker’s operators were ecstatic at the win and are working hard to build more for the polish gaming community. They are hoping to work with gamblers to turn the market around and also to build confidence once again in the world of gaming. It may take some time, but this win was a great promotional asset to the company Party Poker and the industry.

Poland Works with EU to Sort out Gambling Law- Part 2

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Free trade is an issue that the EU has been focusing on over the past few years due to the rise on online gambling as a viable market. More and more companies are offering gambling and that means that it may take some time to sort through the rules. Free trade of course is a premiere law of the EU and every market has to adhere to that. Many countries of the EU in the past have tried to get around the free trade laws when it comes to gambling. They have unsuccessfully tried to form a monopoly in gaming around their country. The EU quickly stepped in and put an end to that issue by noting that it was against EU policy for anyone to close off the market for the purpose of being the sole provider. That is completely contradictory to what the law states regarding free trade and the EU is not going to let that happen.

In order for Poland to remain in the EU it is going to have to alter its rules regarding gambling. The lottery that is currently held and very popular is a prototype of sorts for the country’s legislators to work with the GTech G2 organization. If they can create a workable situation for the lottery that benefits all parties involved, without stifling any trade agreements already instituted, then this model could be used to further expand gambling in the Polish market. It may take some time for the issues to be sorted out, but most likely gambling law will be written shortly. The reality is that there are millions, possibly billions, of dollars avaialble through gambling and its legalization. Countries may try to form monopolies to protect those billions, but third-party regulators like the EU are going to step in to make sure that other laws already being enforced are not broken. It will take some time for things to get settled, but with the huge price tag that online gambling’s legalization and regulation is giong to bring, is enough of an impetus for gamers, legislators and the EU to work together to find viable solutions.

Poland Works with EU to Sort out Gambling Law- Part 1

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Online gambling has been an issue in Poland for over a year now. First the issue was debated and then legalized. The country saw it as a money-making move, but it proved to be more difficult to implement than anticipated. There was a huge scandal involving politicians of the country. Many came under fire from residents and were stripped of their posts. Now, more changes are coming about. The good news is that most of the problems with unscrupulous politicians seem to be over and now the country is moving on to truly regulating online gambling. The EU, European Union is now moving in on the issue for Poland.

Over the years more countries have realized just how lucrative legalizing online gambling is. They know how much money is at stake if they don’t find viable ways of regulation. Poland is the same and wants to bring in gambling carefully. However, they have an additional issue in the mix. Polish legislators are trying to block foreign internet gambling websites from coming into the country. The problem is that according to the EU, participating countries have to remain open—meaning free trade has to be adhered to. One country cannot block out others and hope to create a monopoly, which is just what countries trying to block outsiders from reaching their market are doing. The Polish government is going to have to comply with the new GTech G2 gambling group.

The GTech G2 gambling group is trying to flesh out a lottery plan with the Polish government. Hopefully this will be the first successful move towards a viable plan for online gambling and managing it within the country and beyond. Despite challenges in the past, Polish legislators are hopeful that with the expulsion of former politicians who were caught, they can now begin a true move towards online gambling and using it to bring in millions. They are going to have to be careful however to heed the EUs rulings and keep an open market. Monopolies are something many countries have tried to maintain and failed. The EU is strict about offering a completely open market of trade across borders of member countries.

Part two coming next.

Poland Suffers More Gambling Setbacks

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

It’s been a hard time for Poland and its gambling industry in the past year. Now, players have almost had enough of the government’s laws when it comes to online gambling. The Prime Minister of Poland followed in the footsteps of the US and banned online gambling within the country. The Polish government had planned to censor the Internet by restricting access to all online casino sites through the ISP in Poland. Once the public had gotten word of the plan, their was an immediate outcry from social organizations and the Polish government then retracted their position. Now, the government is planning on taking on their banning initiative and stopping it from hurting the general public. They want to go all the way and remove any trace any online gambling website has that is tied to the football association. Unibet among other popular European gambling sites will lose out on this new regulation. Their logo and name will not be allowed in the Polish First League Stadium or on the jerseys of any football team.

Unibet is one of the most recognized online gambling operators in Poland. Their massive advertising campaign over the past few months has brought in a wave of new polish players to their gambling site. Unfortunately, these new regulations will have a heavy impact on Unibet’s advertising within Poland. Polish football teams still have contracts with other sportsbooks, so it remains to be seen at how effective these new regulations will impact other gambling sites. It will be interesting to watch how things change though and if one company is not allowed to have gambling, others need to be regulated to keep things fair within the market. One of the primary concerns of the EU is to keep all member countries on level playing ground. They want to make sure that there is no monopoly or overwhelming majority kep taside for a prime entity. Everything has to be done fairly throughout the world of gambling and the EU is hoping to make sure that it hapens effectively over the next few months of operations in the country.

Critics Worried about What Legalizing Gambling Will Bring

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

The expansion of online gambling is opening the door for many additional concerns in the market. A lot of critics of legalizing gambling believe that it will open the door for crime, corruption and addiction. Though studies have been done and there is no conclusive evidence yet to support the claim, there are still more instances of illegal activities regarding gambling cropping up in the US. For example, recently Murray, Utah was the location of a crackdown on illegal gambling operations. In the end five people were arrested for illegal activities at the Fortune Cyber café. Each person had a record and was charged with felony counts of money laundering.

Anyone who has watched the developments in gambling throughout the world also knows about the issues in Poland. Poland was rocked recently by a slew of politicians who were taking under-the-table money for gambling-related activities. The whole scandal was deemed “Blackjack-gate” by locals. It was a highly embarrassing time for the Prime Minister and recently the country decided to leave gambling to land-based casinos only. Off-cite casinos and gambling activities are now considered illegal and many have been closed down.

These are just two instances of recent media frenzies surrounding gambling in the world. The interesting thing is that gambling still isn’t legalized and laws regarding it are not yet completely formulated. If this is how the pastime is shaping up already, many critics are worried about what will happen once it is formally adopted into law. Maybe critics of legalizing gambling have a point—it could potentially open the door for a slew of other problems that countries are not yet ready to handle. One analyst stated that the best thing countries can do is prepare for problems. He believes that countries that are writing gambling rules should start factoring in funds for wider addiction services and stronger police task forces. Each one will be in place to handle problems that occur regarding gambling and its legalization. Without being prepared, societies are going to have more problems once gambling reaches their economies. Sure, there are millions of dollars at stake, but if most of the money needs to be used for keeping things in order, is it really an advantage?

Poland Bans Online Gambling

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Poland is another country dealing with online gambling. The country’s corruption and crime rate are running rampant and as a result the government is turning to the online gambling industry as the cause. Despite evidence to the contrary, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is outlawing online casinos altogether. He believes that they are the direct cause of corruption, crisis, crime and violence in the country. 

Thus far, four officials have been ousted from office in the Polish government due to their involvement with trying to keep the taxation on gambling at its current level. In two of these cases the legislators allowed their judgment and decision making to be clouded by “inappropriate influence” from casino gambling lobbyists. Many are accusing them of taking money in the form of kickbacks from the lobbyists and various other “gifts” that were a form of bribery in nature. One other legislator was the Minister of Sport Miroslaw Drzewiecki.

Because of the number of illegalities as a result of online gambling the Prime Minister decided the best thing to do was to outlaw industry as a whole. This seems like a very extreme move, rather than trying to root out the corruption, or people, within the government itself.  Rather Tusk made the move to block online gambling. He plans on making any type of gambling outside the “land-based” variety illegal. He also plans to raise the taxes for the land-based casinos substantially.  He stated that he and his cabinet “want to do everything to convince Poles and also our opponents about our impartiality.”

Grzegorz Makowski of the Institute of Public Affairs said that Tusk “got rid of those closest to the scandal, but there wasn’t a thorough cleaning up of his entire party.” Makowski continued to say “He covered the problem of corruption with the problem of online gambling. One should remember that kickbacks can only be received if the people receiving them are already corrupt, and perhaps this is what Tusk should be focusing on.”

Many within the country are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the ban on online gambling. Many believe that banning it was unsuccessful in many other countries and it won’t be successful in theirs.

Poland Faces A Ban in Gambling Amidst Political Scandal

Monday, November 16th, 2009

In Poland there has been a long-standing political scandal involving politicians and gambling corruption. As a result Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is determined to ban online gambling in the EU-member state. The new introduced legislation will make all gambling illegal if it takes place outside land-based casinos, including online gambling, while imposing higher taxes on legal gambling operators. The first draft of the proposed reform will be ready in two weeks for review.

Although in general internet gambling operators are accustomed to various bans and changes in legislation that thwart their businesses, this one may be different. People are viewing it the same way– seing it as just another political ploy. Gambling has met its share of opposition in Poland and still it has remained in the market. This new ban, however is coming with an added strength and political push by legislators. This may make it a more difficult ruling to get through for operators and Polish citizens who want to gamble.

“Operation Blackjack” was the title used to name the investigation into political corruption that centered around four Polish officials. Each one has been forced to resign in recent weeks on suspicion of letting gaming industry lobbyists exert inappropriate influence on political decisions. One of the newer politicians to fall in to the fray was Miroslaw Drzewiecki, the former Minister for Sport. His name featured on documentation published as part of “Operation Blackjack.” The incriminated minister for justice and the deputy prime minister also handed in their resignation letters.

So now the country is left with a problem. If online gambling is banned, it will create a deficit from the monies that were collected in tax dollars from it. That means that land-based casinos will have to make up the difference. Critics argue that taxing a regulated online gaming industry would achieve the same revenue, but the legalization option doesn’t suit Prime Minister Tusk. He is now campaigning heavily. He recently stated, “”…my colleagues and I want to do everything to convince Poles and also our opponents about our impartiality.”  Though he is claiming impartiality many critics don’t buy it. They believe that the political corruption is what is causing the move to a ban on online gambling. Only time will tell where the country goes with its next decision regarding gambling.