Virtual Betting – Is It Really Betting?
Virtual Betting – Is It Really Betting?

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide an analysis of so-called virtual bets organised by bookmakers legally operating in Poland, as well as to address the question of whether such games can be classified as pari-mutuel bets within the meaning of the Act on Gambling Games. In the study of the regulations defining the rules for organising virtual bets, research procedures appropriate to the logico-linguistic method were applied. When the features of virtual sports and virtual events were presented, they were based on established findings within gambling studies. The analysis carried out led to the conclusion that events involving the generation of pseudo-random numbers and the audiovisual imitation of sports games do not constitute ‘virtual events’ within the meaning of the Act on Gambling Games, but rather represent other random events which, according to the position of the administrative courts, cannot determine the outcome of pari-mutuel betting. For this reason, so-called virtual bets do not fall within the legal definition of bookmaking within the meaning of the Act.

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