15 Dec 11
Poker Regulation in Europe: Overview
With more and more poker markets becoming regulated, we have prepared an overview of the different laws and regulations in several European countries. You can also download it as a PDF file. We've covered all the main points of interest for poker players: tax on operators, player tax and the rake that players have to pay. Read on for the overview.
Below is an overview of the regulated markets in Europe. You can click the images to enlarge them or you can download the PDF file.
Download the PDF file
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While we certainly hope that you find our reporting of legal developments entertaining, informative and educational, we would ask you not to place reliance on the same. Information published on PokerStrategy.com is not intended to amount to legal advice (and should not be construed as such) and in no circumstances should any such information be considered a substitute for the advice of a suitably qualified lawyer. Accordingly, we would always encourage you to seek independent legal advice if you believe that the subject matter of this article is likely to affect you or your legal rights and responsibilities in any way.
#1
kiromanAAKK, 15 Dec 11 11:46
Aspecting change for UK in 2012!Ofc, I planned to go pro in 2012 and obviously things are going to change in regulations (and Tax I aspect) as it is always in my lucky life!!!!
#2
janushr, 15 Dec 11 12:02
kiroman,already turning pro...slowly,m8,no rush atm...wait until is regulated...fingers crossed:)#3
shichibukaii, 15 Dec 11 13:04
Too bad Poland isn't included. Should be a big "BANNED" in every tab.#4
TurnitAce, 15 Dec 11 13:14
lol, this is stupid. If they consider poker as gambling are they going to take tax from the roulette players as well? waiting them outside of the casino....#5
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 13:19
Please note: we made a typo about Spain: it is regulated as of December 2011.Regards,
Dessi
#6
LimburgCwboy, 15 Dec 11 13:31
You used a few times:'Contrary to EU law'
What is this EU law you are talking about?
And if it is a law already, how can any EU-state make his own law contrary to it?
#7
TimPS, 15 Dec 11 13:38
@6Thanks for your comment. What we mean by that is that certain laws are seen as contradictory to fundamental European rights. It's not so much about European Gambling laws, but more about e.g the European right of freedom of establishment & freedom to provide services in the EU.
If you need to work together with a land-based casino and need to have your servers in the country itself, then that goes against specific European rights.
That's what we mean by "contrary to EU law". Hope I've been able to explain it properly, if not, feel free to write a new comment :-)
#8
Harnas31, 15 Dec 11 13:43
how it is in Poland ?#9
Hoodpoker, 15 Dec 11 13:59
Spain, "Regulated as of December 2012."Should that be dec 2011? Licenses are being issued this month but not expected to open until January 2012
(nick/pokerfuse)
#10
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 14:05
Hey Hoodpoker,Please see comment #5.
#11
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 14:13
Hi Harnas31,Unfortunately, we were not able to include all countries. This is a complex task on its own and we included as many countries as we could.
Poland is not regulated yet, there is a law in progress which seems to be contrary to EU law.
Regards,
Dessi
#12
Anarkii14, 15 Dec 11 14:27
Hi and what about Slovakia? Is there something in the air? I hear that it will be regulated in 2012 :(#13
Buhas, 15 Dec 11 14:33
Hi, what about Portugal?#14
TilTmuch, 15 Dec 11 14:40
weee nothin about Latvia :)#15
SPeedFANat1c, 15 Dec 11 14:42
For me its interesting an estonia. If they want to have a room that works only in estonia, how the room can expect trafic from such a small amd poor coyuntry and how it can expect lots of rich fish? It is understandable maybe in rich countries as italy where there is lots of people who have lots of extra money they can gamble with. Of course still bad, since internet poker is made to be global and let people play whoever they want to. I hope they will not try to do similar in lithuania.#16
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 14:43
#12: Hi Anarkii14,Slovakia is working on a law, but there is nothing clear yet.
#13) Hi Buhas,
Portugal, they do not seem to be talking about regulation yet.
#17
Zemnieks11, 15 Dec 11 17:46
#14 there might be some changes in next year, but i doubt its going to happen too soon, so maybe in 2013 i guess#18
tofu22, 15 Dec 11 18:13
why can't they just make a Europe wide legislation? because if this means segregated player pools then this really sucks.#19
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 18:43
@ #18 tofu22,Your suggestion makes sense, but this would take time (.eu rooms).
I have been flowing up developments in my country (Bulgaria) and met some politicians for an interview. There is a lot to learn by these people (even they admit it) and not all EU countries seem to be fast learners, I hope BG will be and eventually all Europe. :)
#20
martoman2k10, 15 Dec 11 18:58
Poker rooms charge rake.That's the way of taxing players I thought. Stricter regulations on Bookmakers to be honest - most "UK" bookmakers have headquarters abroad to pay less taxes(of course, why wouldn't they?)
Don't punish players for the fact that they can't regulate poker rooms and bookmakers properly.
If they start taxing in the UK, I'm insta quitting. Paying rake and tax, yeah nice one....
#21
DessiP, 15 Dec 11 19:53
HI #20 martoman2k10,It is not clear what all the changes in UK will be yet. Right now they allow operators who are licensed outside UK, but in EU countries to operate without being issued license by the Commission in UK. They might be changing that.
I think they are not looking at taxation of users.
This is all my opinion and I am not a lawyer but we could get you more info from the legal department of PokerStrategy.com and make another news as an update with more details as soon as there is any final info. For the time being I would say that you should not worry.
#22
earthzilla, 15 Dec 11 21:26
To #15: What the hell are you talking about? I live in estonia and nobody wants a poker room just for estonians. That,s nonsense.Yes we have like pokerstars.ee but our players are not isolated like the french and italians. Your english skills are clearly mediocre, but as you are a lithuanian we will forgive you. ;)
#23
SPeedFANat1c, 16 Dec 11 07:05
oh, then yeah, something I misundersstood. But then what they were trying to achieve with this pokerstars.ee ?#24
Phoenix2104, 16 Dec 11 09:29
What governments are trying to achieve are:a) Increase the taxes they collect.
b) Force their citizens to spend their money inside their country.
I see troubled times ahead for online poker in the next few years.
#25
DessiP, 16 Dec 11 11:02
United Kingdom Update: additional information about possible changes in 2012.Overview of our legal department. Please note that the Disclaimer above applies to this comment:
"In general, the UK government is planning to obligate all operators who are providing their services to UK customers, to apply for a online gambling licence in the UK in 2012. Currently, companies in places like Malta and Gibraltar are not required to have license in UK, as long as they have in EU based countries. However, nothing has been introduced yet. According to experts, it seems doubtful that the government plans to introduce additional regulations for taxing online companies in connection to primary legislation. At the moment, the Treasury is in early policy development stage, but according to legal experts, changes to the Gambling Act itself (requiring a vote in parliament) will be probably put on hold for now as there are legal concerns on national and EU level. The main problem could be the fact that the UK would restrict an already open market instead of opening a closed market. In connection to that, the government would need to illustrate risks to customers in order to justify those restrictions. If the government will not do so, there is a risk that its decision to restrict the open market is based on inadequate evidence and this could be challengeable on EU level.
However, regarding players based in the UK, no specific changes have been announced yet."
#26
DessiP, 16 Dec 11 11:07
Who is allowed to operate in UK without license issued by the UK commission at the moment?"Any remote gaming operator based in the European Economic Area, including Gibraltar, or a 'white listed' country (Isle of Man, Alderney etc.) can advertise and locate some of their operation in the UK without paying the standard UK gambling taxes, as long as they do not have any of their remote gambling equipment situated in Britain.
Also operators not residing in the EEA or in a white-list country are currently allowed to accept custom from UK , but those operators are not allowed to advertise their sites in the UK or target their website specifically to UK residents.
Further information reg. white-listing can be found here: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/WhiteListingCriteria.pdf~"
Hope this gave you all good idea of the picture.