A new bill was approved in the Polish Parliament recently. The country has been under fire as of late due to a wide range of gambling problems that have arisen. They have involved high-ranking officials in the country and it has done more than a little to embarrass legislators. The whole flub was labeled as “Blackjack-gate” and it will be a long time before officials will be forgiven for the problems that occurred. Once the scandal was dealt with, Prime Minister Tusk started an immediate push for stricter laws when it comes to gaming in the country.

The main repercussion of stricter rulings is that slot machines are going to be stationed only in approved areas. Prior to the new laws, the machines were legal to be set up in bars, service stations, malls and cafes in the country. Now, only licensed casinos will be able to have the machines and legally operate them. To implement the new changes, there may be some problems however. Namely, it may take some time to reverse the former more lax rules about slot machine gambling. It is estimated that there are more than 50,000 slot machines that will have to be removed. This could prove to be a hefty task for legislators to carry out due to the widespread nature of the locations that are having gambling machines in operations. It may take months for all the machines to be removed and that doesn’t mean that there won’t still remain an underground number of machines that are being operated. One thing other countries have learned is that gambling is something that if banned, people will find illegal ways of carrying it out. When a ban happens with gambling, there has to be some police force strictly tasked with regulating the changes and monitoring them over time. Poland can expect more underground gambling to ensue. The new rules also ban online gambling within the state. These changes may be hard to implement, but time will tell what legislators will have to do to ensure the laws are followed. It will take time and money, along with vigilant attention to make sure Poland does not fall into illegal gambling.

Poland has been through a lot when it comes to slots gambling. Prime Minister Donald Tusk cleaned house recently in an effort to move forward from the gambling scandal that took over the country. Three high-ranking government officials submitted their resignation and Tusk dismissed the head of the anticorruption agency along with them. The anticorruption investigation, with a code name of Operation Blackjack, has been in the headlines for quite a while this past year. The Central Anticorruption Bureau alleged that public officials were using their influence to reduce the burden of new gambling taxes on casinos in the country. The scandal was a huge setback for the Prime Minister because he is poised on running for president next year against Lech Kaczynski. Mr. Tusk said, “Recent events related to the gambling act raise justified doubts among Poles. For the government to work in an atmosphere of trust and impartiality, my colleagues and I want to do everything to convince Poles, but also our opponents, about our impartiality.”

Tusk is working hard to sort out the issue within the country. Under the new gaming law, slot machines and other small-wagering machines will be systematically phased out of the industry. The Prime Minister is looking to increase the taxes imposed on the industry and “banning highly addictive examples of gaming that threaten young individuals and children.” The law will ban gambling for people under 18 years of age and it will introduce a six-year state concessions for casino facilities with the limit of one facility per district with a maximum population of up to 650,000. Each casino will be limited also to just 70 individual casino gaming tables and machines combined.

The new law also institutes a higher gaming tax and introduces new taxes to the market. Casinos will have to pass all ownership changes to the ministry of finance in the country. The new gaming law was proposed after the aforementioned scandal wreaked havoc on the country due to sullying the name of the government and the Prime Minister. He moved quickly to get rid of the offenders, but new polls have shown that he has lost some voter loyalty as a result.

Poland is a country that has wrestled with the issue of gambling as of late. The country has been in a lot of trouble due to politicians falling to gambling bribes and corruption. President Lech Kaczynski still gave approval at the end of November for laws restricting gaming to casinos and to remove slot machines from clubs, arcades, shops, cafes and service stations across Poland. Formerly slot machines were allowed in various business establishments and used to bring in additional funds to various businesses. Presidential Aide Wladyslaw Stasiak said that President Kaczynski requested the constitutional court of Poland to decide whether the hastily approved law was in line with the state constitution.

Under the new gaming law, slot machines are to be phased out of the business world. It is a difficult decision because it cuts back on businesses’ revenues considerably. Poland’s Liberal Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whose government supported the hard line gaming legislation, has said that it is aimed at increasing the taxes imposed on the industry and limiting and if possible, banning highly addictive examples of gaming that threatens young individuals including children. This is an argument that has come up in various jurisdictions. Many believe that the surge of slot machine gambling will put children at risk and bring more crime to the area. They believe that corruption and crime go hand in hand with gambling and ok-ing slot machines is one step away from having to deal with more troublesome problems like addiction, corruption and money laundering.

The new Polish law bans gambling for people under eighteen years old. It also introduces strict six-year state concessions for casino facilities with the limit of one facility per district with a population of up to 650,000. Casino establishments will be limited to operating seventy individual casino gaming tables and gaming machines. The law also imposes higher gaming taxes as well as new taxes for the market. Casino facilities will also have to pass all ownership changes to the ministry of finance in Poland. The new gaming law was proposed after Prime Minister Tusk was forced to get rid of several ministers and political allies over allegations of influence peddling in the cabinet regarding the gaming proposal. The state of gambling in the country is still in the planning stages, but this new law is a step in the right direction for the country.