The Czech blacklist now includes more than 3,300 prohibited domains

The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Finance has blacklisted more than 1,000 illegal online gambling domains since the start of this year, with its latest update including prediction market operator Polymarket.

A total of 1,076 domains have been blacklisted by the Ministry since the start of this year, taking the total number of domains on the country’s illegal gambling blacklist to 3,341.

Under Czech law, internet service providers are required to block access to blacklisted domains.

The domains in the latest blacklist update include Betify, Goldbet, PlayFortuna, Polymarket and a number of fake Sazka domains, amongst a host of others.

The inclusion of prediction market platform Polymarket on the latest Czech blacklist was welcomed by gaming industry association the Institute for Gambling Regulation (IPRH).

“Prediction markets are not harmless technological novelties. They involve betting on real-world events, often without clear accountability to the state, without standard player-protection measures and without the rules that apply to legal gambling,” said Jan Řehola, director of the Institute for Gambling Regulation.

“If something looks like a bet, functions like a bet and allows people to win or lose money depending on the outcome of an uncertain event, we cannot stop treating it as gambling simply because it is called a contract. We therefore consider the Ministry of Finance’s decision to add Polymarket to the List of Unauthorised Internet Games an important step confirming that the same rules must apply to everyone.”

The Czech Republic becomes the latest European nation to act against prediction markets, following in the footsteps of Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain and the Netherlands.

“In legal gambling, the state knows who operates the game, who participates in it, which bets are suspicious and which mechanisms are intended to protect both players and market integrity,” Řehola added. “Prediction markets, by contrast, allow betting on virtually any event, from the weather and political decisions to security operations, but without comparable oversight. This is not risk-free innovation. It is a gambling product operating outside the rules.”