The Polish government is planning to legalise online sports betting but will not allow other casino games, such as online slots, to be played online.

The new bill is in the process of being passed by the Polish Parliament and the plan highlights changes to allow online sports betting. Online gambling operators would pay a 12 percent turnover tax, the same rate which is applied at the moment on land-based bookmakers in Poland.

The move will certainly be welcomed by sports fans in Poland who are looking forward to being able to bet online. However, they will not be allowed to play casino games online until further negotiations takes place between the government, the European Union and online gambling operators.  At the moment, online casino games such as online slot machines, blackjack, roulette and poker will remain illegal.

Members of Parliaments have already voted to pass the new bill as an amendment to Poland’s current gambling laws. To be able to offer services to polish customers, operators will have to register local polish domains for their online gambling websites (ending in .pl). They will also be restricted in the running of their operations and will have to conduct all transactions through Polish banks and host their servers within the country’s borders.

In many ways, the move follows some of the restrictions passed in France in June 2010. However, many operators offering sports betting services online in France have found the restrictions very difficult to deal with and some are already showing signs of planning to discontinue services to French customers. The same move in Poland might have the same consequences with online gambling operators deciding to move away from the local markets where restrictions are considered too severe and where profitability is too difficult to achieve.

In this instance, the 12 percent tax on online gambling operators will be the highest in Europe and is likely to stop many operators from offering their services to polish customers. In many ways, the new bill seems to be protecting the interest, and the turnover of Totalizator Sportowy, the company currently running a monopoly on sports betting and lottery games in Poland. The company is planning to start offering online sports betting services and they are likely to see a sharp increase in revenue if no other competitors can afford to implement the strict requirements imposed by the polish government.

Jacek Kapica, Poland’s Deputy Minister of Finance, told the Polish Press Agency that he expects the law to be implemented in June this year.