Published September 16, 2020 by Sol FH
Onlinepoker revenue hits record highs after it more than doubled year-on-year.
Online gambling dropped slightly in the second quarter of 2020 in France's regulated markets. This was simply not the case for onlinepoker, which saw its activity more than double year-on-year, as more and more players are getting into the game.
The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France's gambling regulator released figures last Monday, which reported a combined generated revenue of €323 million, among licensed online gambling operators over the three months prior to June 30. This was a 6% decline from the same time in the previous year, but, it fell a very steep 26% from the first quarter of 2020.
Following pressure from the EU, who opposed France's state monopoly over gambling, French authorities passed the French Gambling Act (Law No 2010-476) in 2010. That act made online poker, sports betting and horse racing betting legal in France and set out the framework for licensing and taxation of the industry. What is more, France was one of the first European countries to legalize online poker. However, the country imposes heavy taxes on legal online poker providers located within French borders who then have to reimburse their expenses by offering lower rakebacks. Online Poker France Legal, poker scrabble word, casino central de suboficiales fac bogota, casino getaways oklahoma. Online Poker France Legal, emerson drive cowboys casino, 888 tiger onlinecasino, huuuge casino mod 2020. The best place to play legal online poker for real cash prizes continues to get even better. National League of Poker NLOP is taking things to the next level! The prize pool has been steadily growing every month.
One of the online gambling industries that felt the COVID-19 burn the most was online sports betting, as there were no sports being played, and such, no odds to offer. Betting revenue in the second quarter was down 56% to €94 million and sports wagering turnover took a tumble to €513 million.
One of the only leagues that remained after the Pandemic began was Belarussian soccer, which was enough for punters to place bets. Due to this, overall betting turnover skyrocketed 87% to €445.4 million.
Much less popular among the French is baseball, but, since South Korean maintained its favorite sport and activity in Q2, saw a turnover of €36 million, and put baseball in the second-place in France for the first time ever.
Poker Soars
With sports depleted, onlinepoker has blast-off in France and increased by 126% to €142 million. This was the largest gain ever for France's 10-year old market. The number of weekly players grew substantially to 1.06 million, which is 68% more poker players. Cash games and tournaments soared. Cash games rose 82% to €39 million while tournaments stunned all with 149% to €103m.
Online Poker France Legal Sites
It was very obvious that poker was on the rise during the first stages of the pandemic lockdown. This happened during Q2 with a spike of 222% in the second and third weeks of April.
There are dozens of poker sites in France and the numbers of poker players continue to rise.
By James Spillane, Rakeback.com Staff Writer
| Where Can I Play? | Legislation | Deposits & Cashouts | PokerStars | Do I Need a VPN? | Full Tilt |
| Rakeback.com recommends the rooms below for French online poker players – all the sites shown currently accept signups from France and offer either flat rakeback or a points based VIP program. |
rakeback rooms – where to play online poker in France? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poker room | traffic avg * | Rakeback | Bonus | segregated? |
| bwin Poker | 700 | Up to 25% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Combined PartyGaming Player Pool | PartyPoker.fr | |||
| PartyPoker | 700 | Up to 30% | €20 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Voted Softest Games | PartyPoker.fr | |||
| PKR | 50 | 30% Flat | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| 3D Avatars | PKR.fr | |||
| PokerStars | 1300 | Up to 74% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Highest Traffic | PokerStars.fr | |||
| Unibet | 550 | Up to 30% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Sportsbook Casual Players | iPoker.fr |
* For the latest traffic figures see PokerScout.com
France's Online Gambling Laws – is Poker Legal?Online poker is legal in France, regulated by ARJEL in 2009. However its players are segregated from other countries and operator taxes are partially passed onto players in the form of higher rake.
France Poker Deposit & Cashout Methods
E-wallets Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) and Neteller are preferred by many grinders as they avoid fees and taxes associated with banks and gambling transactions, and don't require you to share banking information with poker sites. |
| French Currency – Euro (EUR) |
Is France in the PokerStars.com Playerpool?
No. As shown in the table above French players are segregated from the rest of the international PokerStars playerpool (dot.com) in the same way Italy and Spain are. Instead French players play on dot.fr with a higher rake due to the higher cost PokerStars has of operating there.
Players living in e.g. UK or elsewhere in Europe can choose to play on PokerStars.fr as a second site in addition to the dot.com or dot.eu sites, by verifying their EU address and bank account with PokerStars.
Can I Play on PokerStars.fr if I'm not a French resident?
Yes, if you have a European bank account – you'll need to send in verification docs to PokerStars. Once verified you'll be able to play in the French playerpool on dot.fr as a second site, in addition to dot.com.
Online Poker in France – Do I Need a VPN?
No. There is currently no internet censorship applied to online gambling sites in France, whether lottery, sports betting, casino or poker related. As such a VPN is not necessary. However if you experience difficulties downloading poker clients in the future or while travelling outside France, follow the guidelines below:
Other countries in Europe's regulated online poker market may censor primary domains of poker rooms. While the poker site's domain may be down, preventing new players from downloading the client, those who have already downloaded the software can still log in and play unrestricted. The sites are based offshore (e.g. Malta / Gibraltar) with EU licenses – balances and cashouts remain safe despite one country's internet censorship.
If you are unable to download a poker client simply use a cheap VPN service such as StrongVPN or HideMyAss to do so. After install it is no longer necessary to use a VPN although some grinders continue to do so if playing over public wifi, for extra security. Site reps have confirmed on the forums that VPNs are not prohibited, with the exception of VPN use to play online from the US.
No Full Tilt Poker in France?
PokerStars obtained the assets of Full Tilt Poker as part of its agreement with the US Department of Justice and re-opened the online room for real money play in some regulated EU countries on Nov 6th, 2012.
Unfortunately PokerStars has stated that they currently have no plans to seek licenses to operate Full Tilt Poker (FTP) in France, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Belgium or Estonia. Full Tilt no longer offers flat rakeback and has 1/10th the traffic of PokerStars.
Online Poker France Legal Advice
- Back to Poker In the EU – Select Country
Featured Promotions
How Much Cash Back Will I Earn?
Rakeback increases your winnings from online poker as you continually earn money back from every raked hand or tournament you play.
Many players earn a living wage from rakeback alone. Use the calculator below to estimate the size of payments you'll get over a given period of time. The calculator will compute your expected daily, weekly, and monthly cash back depending on the stakes and tables you input.
Hourly $998
Daily $17,472
Monthly $174,720
Yearly
Top Poker Room Recommendation
One of the online gambling industries that felt the COVID-19 burn the most was online sports betting, as there were no sports being played, and such, no odds to offer. Betting revenue in the second quarter was down 56% to €94 million and sports wagering turnover took a tumble to €513 million.
One of the only leagues that remained after the Pandemic began was Belarussian soccer, which was enough for punters to place bets. Due to this, overall betting turnover skyrocketed 87% to €445.4 million.
Much less popular among the French is baseball, but, since South Korean maintained its favorite sport and activity in Q2, saw a turnover of €36 million, and put baseball in the second-place in France for the first time ever.
Poker Soars
With sports depleted, onlinepoker has blast-off in France and increased by 126% to €142 million. This was the largest gain ever for France's 10-year old market. The number of weekly players grew substantially to 1.06 million, which is 68% more poker players. Cash games and tournaments soared. Cash games rose 82% to €39 million while tournaments stunned all with 149% to €103m.
Online Poker France Legal Sites
It was very obvious that poker was on the rise during the first stages of the pandemic lockdown. This happened during Q2 with a spike of 222% in the second and third weeks of April.
There are dozens of poker sites in France and the numbers of poker players continue to rise.
By James Spillane, Rakeback.com Staff Writer
| Where Can I Play? | Legislation | Deposits & Cashouts | PokerStars | Do I Need a VPN? | Full Tilt |
| Rakeback.com recommends the rooms below for French online poker players – all the sites shown currently accept signups from France and offer either flat rakeback or a points based VIP program. |
rakeback rooms – where to play online poker in France? | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poker room | traffic avg * | Rakeback | Bonus | segregated? |
| bwin Poker | 700 | Up to 25% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Combined PartyGaming Player Pool | PartyPoker.fr | |||
| PartyPoker | 700 | Up to 30% | €20 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Voted Softest Games | PartyPoker.fr | |||
| PKR | 50 | 30% Flat | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| 3D Avatars | PKR.fr | |||
| PokerStars | 1300 | Up to 74% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Highest Traffic | PokerStars.fr | |||
| Unibet | 550 | Up to 30% | €500 | Yes – dot.fr playerpool |
| Sportsbook Casual Players | iPoker.fr |
* For the latest traffic figures see PokerScout.com
France's Online Gambling Laws – is Poker Legal?Online poker is legal in France, regulated by ARJEL in 2009. However its players are segregated from other countries and operator taxes are partially passed onto players in the form of higher rake.
France Poker Deposit & Cashout Methods
E-wallets Skrill (formerly Moneybookers) and Neteller are preferred by many grinders as they avoid fees and taxes associated with banks and gambling transactions, and don't require you to share banking information with poker sites. |
| French Currency – Euro (EUR) |
Is France in the PokerStars.com Playerpool?
No. As shown in the table above French players are segregated from the rest of the international PokerStars playerpool (dot.com) in the same way Italy and Spain are. Instead French players play on dot.fr with a higher rake due to the higher cost PokerStars has of operating there.
Players living in e.g. UK or elsewhere in Europe can choose to play on PokerStars.fr as a second site in addition to the dot.com or dot.eu sites, by verifying their EU address and bank account with PokerStars.
Can I Play on PokerStars.fr if I'm not a French resident?
Yes, if you have a European bank account – you'll need to send in verification docs to PokerStars. Once verified you'll be able to play in the French playerpool on dot.fr as a second site, in addition to dot.com.
Online Poker in France – Do I Need a VPN?
No. There is currently no internet censorship applied to online gambling sites in France, whether lottery, sports betting, casino or poker related. As such a VPN is not necessary. However if you experience difficulties downloading poker clients in the future or while travelling outside France, follow the guidelines below:
Other countries in Europe's regulated online poker market may censor primary domains of poker rooms. While the poker site's domain may be down, preventing new players from downloading the client, those who have already downloaded the software can still log in and play unrestricted. The sites are based offshore (e.g. Malta / Gibraltar) with EU licenses – balances and cashouts remain safe despite one country's internet censorship.
If you are unable to download a poker client simply use a cheap VPN service such as StrongVPN or HideMyAss to do so. After install it is no longer necessary to use a VPN although some grinders continue to do so if playing over public wifi, for extra security. Site reps have confirmed on the forums that VPNs are not prohibited, with the exception of VPN use to play online from the US.
No Full Tilt Poker in France?
PokerStars obtained the assets of Full Tilt Poker as part of its agreement with the US Department of Justice and re-opened the online room for real money play in some regulated EU countries on Nov 6th, 2012.
Unfortunately PokerStars has stated that they currently have no plans to seek licenses to operate Full Tilt Poker (FTP) in France, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Belgium or Estonia. Full Tilt no longer offers flat rakeback and has 1/10th the traffic of PokerStars.
Online Poker France Legal Advice
- Back to Poker In the EU – Select Country
Featured Promotions
How Much Cash Back Will I Earn?
Rakeback increases your winnings from online poker as you continually earn money back from every raked hand or tournament you play.
Many players earn a living wage from rakeback alone. Use the calculator below to estimate the size of payments you'll get over a given period of time. The calculator will compute your expected daily, weekly, and monthly cash back depending on the stakes and tables you input.
Hourly $998
Daily $17,472
Monthly $174,720
Yearly
Top Poker Room Recommendation
- 27% Rakeback
- $1000 Sign-up Bonus
- Bonus Code:RBCOM
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