Recent events have caused the Polish parliament to make severe decisions in the realm of casino gambling. As the elections are swiftly approaching, there has been a lot of negative press surrounding the Polish parliament and their crooked involvement in trying to sway the bill for gambling. Now a new bill has been passed, thereby banning any gambling that has taken place outside of the casinos.
The severe measures are taking place due to the most recent scandal known as, Blackjackgate. Blackjackgate involved four of the top government officials discussing the terms of bribery in order to maintain gambling in the upcoming election. Included in this scandal were the chairman, Zbigniew Chlebowski, and Sport Minister Mirosław Drzewiecki who are accused of receiving bribes at a secluded cemetery in order to maintain gambling outside of casinos. This situation also involved the Justice Minister Andrzej Czuma who initially stated that no crimes had been committed in that situation, but then recanted in order to save the public relations for Poland as they try to acquire the Olympics. Adam Szejnfeld, deputy economic minister also relieved himself of his position by participating in lobbying for a lower rate for gambling taxes.
This situation has snowballed and therefore put a black mark on any gambling that exists outside of the casinos. Now with the new bill, gambling on the longer be allowed in bars, cafés and shopping malls, therefore cutting back the revenue generated in these areas. Since this type of gaming is no longer allowed, the slot machines that are in place in the specific venues will have to be removed. Currently there are over 50,000 machines in these types of venues that will no longer be generating revenue for the business. As one can imagine this will severely affect the type of business as it has become a consistent amount of income each year. In combination with the removal of the slot machines, online casino gambling will also be illegal under the Polish law.
