The link between France and gambling always has been strong and could even be described as historic.

The country largely contributed to the development of gambling through time with the creation of inescapable games such as roulette (by the mathematician Blaise Pascal) and the 52 card game which gave birth to Baccarat or Shimmy (also known as Chernay).

As a consequence, it feels natural for gambling to be legal in France. But to settle on this territory, you must have a license from by several organisations:
• for betting activities: Pari Mutuel Hippodrome (PMH) and Pari Mutuel Urbain(PMU);
• for bingo lotteries and sports betting, only the Française des Jeux (FDJ) keeps the monopoly on land base activities.

Some conditions must however be respected if you want to offer gambling activities in France. For example, physical casinos can only be established in seaside and tourist towns (except Paris) and on some cruise ships with the French flag.

Since 2010, online gambling is regulated by the Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL), which can authorise licenses for club games (until now, only the poker is allowed), sports betting and horse races. Online casino games are forbidden in France.

Fifteen licenses have been issued by the ARJEL so far. This particularly low number of licenses can be explained by high tax rates which can frighten some operators.

However, the market is doing well as the third quarter of 2017 results show: an increase by 23% of the revenues linked to sports betting despite a year without international competition, a 10% growth of horse racing revenues and +5% for poker.

France is a market which needs to be followed especially as online casinos should be authorised very soon. The 2018 Football World Cup, with a French team considered as favorite for this new edition, should also contribute to the sector’s success thanks to high sports betting revenues.

On October 16, 2018, the inaugural European Gaming Congress in Ljubljana is set to host a panel where the state of France will be discussed directly with the regulator. To find out more details about the event make sure you follow our news.

PokerStars’ French operation has become the first site approved to share player pools with Italy, Portugal, and Spain, once new regulations are cemented.

ARJEL President Charles Coppolani has signed off on PokerStars.fr’s liquidity sharing license.

Following the news that ARJEL, France’s online gaming regulator, had struck a liquidity-sharing deal with some of its European neighbors, PokerStars applied for the necessary credentials. Under the entity Reel Malta Ltd, a division of the Rational Group, the online poker operator has been given the high sign to open up PokerStars.fr.

In an official notice published by ARJEL on December 14, President of the Regulatory Authority Charles Coppolani signed off on the agreement, but issued a number of conditions. As per the document, PokerStars.fr will only be able to share players and prizepools if all other regulatory bodies agree.

Additionally, the poker operator must inform ARJEL of any changes to its operations and only conduct its business across the agreed borders.

Spain also Steps Up

While PokerStars and ARJEL were coming to an agreement, Spain’s regulatory body was preparing its own contribution to the new liquidity-sharing deal. On December 1, the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) published its licensing procedure for sites operating shared playerpools.

Following implementation of the new guidelines, the DGOJ announced on December 12 that an application window would open up soon. According to a report by Poker Industry PRO, around ten operators will be looking to obtain approval from the DGOJ, with Spain’s PokerStars.es certain to be one of them.

While the exact timeline for liquidity sharing between France, Spain, Italy and Portugal has not yet been set, those involved are hopeful of a speedy process.

ARJEL’s Clement Martin-Saint-Leon recently told industry insiders that deal signed on June 6, 2017, could come into force as early as H1 2018. Speaking at the World Regulatory Briefing in London back in September, ARJEL’s Head of Consumer Protection said he was confident things could be in place relatively swiftly.

Prior to the agreement being signed, all four countries involved had seen their online poker economies contract. Although it took a while to piece together, those involved are confident that sharing players will help revive the current set-up and, potentially, lead to more deals in the future.

“This agreement will set the basis for cooperation between the signing Authorities in this context and will be followed by further necessary steps within each of the jurisdictions involved in order to effectively allow for liquidity poker tables,” read a statement from ARJEL on June 30, 2017.

The French online gambling regulator, ARJEL, has reportedly contacted its Italian counterpart inquiring about the latter’s progress on the realization of the shared online poker liquidity project.

It was in July 2017 when the gambling regulatory bodies of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal signed an official agreement that would allow them to merge their online poker player pools in a bid to improve the state of the game in the four countries.

Citing unnamed sources, Italian poker news outlet AssoPoker reported today that ARJEL is looking to materialize the shared liquidity project in early 2018, as it was agreed by the participating regulators upon signing their agreement.

It is believed that the shared online poker liquidity network will indeed be launched in the first months of 2018, with France, Spain, and Portugal merging their player pools. According to sources, Italy will be able to join the project later in 2018.

Here it is important to note that Italy is yet to open the bidding process for operators interested to renew their licenses from the local regulator and ones that are interested to enter the Italian gambling market. Country regulators were expected to launch the call for license applications in mid-September, but little information on the matter has been released since then.

France Calls for Timely Launch of the Project

As pointed out earlier, the shared liquidity project was expected to be launched late in 2017 or in the first quarter of 2018. Sources have told AssoPoker that France is keen on sticking to that timetable and that Charles Coppolani, the President of ARJEL, has been contacting the regulator’s partners in the endeavor asking where they are standing at in relation to its implementation.

According to different sources, France and Spain may become the first two countries to create a shared online poker liquidity network with Portugal joining shortly, and Italy entering the scheme when it copes with the consequences from the regulatory delays.

Another indication that the online poker network will first be launched in early 2018 and that not all countries that signed the July agreement would participate in that initial launch came from the owner of online poker brand PokerStars, The Stars Group (recently rebranded from Amaya).

During a conference call about the company’s financial results for the third quarter of the year, Financial Director Brian Kyle said that they will join the shared liquidity project and that the initial phase of the project might be released in early 2018. It is believed that PokerStars will benefit the most from the project, as it currently is the only operator to hold licenses in all four participating jurisdictions.

French online gambling operator Winamax has also been among those to express interest in joining the scheme. Currently, the company runs operations in its homeland only but has revealed plans to expand its footprint in order to be able to take part in the shared liquidity project.