Online Casinos in France

The Legal Position

France opens online gambling to licensed operators in a closed set of product categories, and online casino games are not among them. The regulator's own description of the French market states plainly that casino games, and online slot machines in particular, are not authorised on the French market. Casino games remain a land-based product: the Autorité nationale des jeux counts 202 gaming establishments spread across the territory and eight gaming clubs in Paris.

What May Be Offered Online

Three online segments are open to licensed competition. Sports betting is offered online by licensed operators and in retail outlets by FDJ. Horse-race betting is offered online by licensed operators, while the PMU holds the retail monopoly. Online poker is offered by licensed operators. Lottery games are run under a monopoly held by FDJ, both in retail and online. The register the ANJ publishes is described as the list of sports betting, horse racing and poker sites authorised in France, and it contains no casino product. It is published at anj.fr/offre-de-jeu-et-marche/operateurs-agrees.

Who Regulates It and Under What Law

The regulator is the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), an independent administrative authority whose remit extends to the whole gambling sector. It was created by the ordinance of 2 October 2019, which reformed the legal framework for gambling in France, and it began operating in June 2020. All participants in the French market, whether holding a monopoly or competing for players, and all authorised game types — lotteries, horse-race betting, sports betting and poker — are regulated by that single authority.

Enforcement Against Unlicensed Sites

The law of 2 March 2022 moved the power to order the blocking of sites that offer or advertise illegal gambling from a judge to the president of the ANJ. The ANJ reports that the most visited illegal sites overwhelmingly offer games that are all prohibited online in France — casino games such as baccarat, roulette, video poker and blackjack, as well as slot machines — and that one consumer in two does not know that this offer is illegal in France. A player who has a dispute with an unlicensed operator has no recourse to the regulator: the ANJ states that neither it nor the gambling ombudsman has jurisdiction over such a dispute.

Sweepstakes Casinos

The dual-currency sweepstakes casino is a United States model, built on United States sweepstakes and promotional-game law, and it is not a category French gambling regulation recognises. The ANJ page that sets out to cover every gambling segment authorised in France lists lottery, sports betting, horse-race betting, online poker and land-based casino games, and names no sweepstakes product. A sweepstakes casino is not a licensed real-money casino and is not an alternative to one.

Player Protection

The sale of gambling to minors is prohibited, in retail outlets and on the internet alike, and the ANJ notes that the practice persists despite the ban. The authority's stated objectives include preventing excessive gambling and protecting minors, ensuring the integrity of gambling operations, maintaining the balance between gambling sectors and preventing fraudulent activity. Joueurs info service runs the national gambling helpline on 09 74 75 13 13, from 8am to 11pm seven days a week; calls are anonymous and not premium-rated, charged as a local call from a landline or included in mobile and broadband packages.