On Tuesday the French online gambling authority ARJEL released a list of 11 operators who were the first to be granted a license for offering their games on the new French market. This also means the end of the oldest gambling monopoly in the world, as the French government held the sole right to organize lotteries and betting games in the country for 471 years.


At first stage the new operators are allowed to run horse and sports betting (right in time for the World Cup). According to a statement released by ARJEL, licenses for poker still need some clarification regarding stakes, what games can be played etc. However, ARJEL president Jean-Francois Vilotte expects poker games to start already in June.

These 11 operators were granted licenses:

BetClic (all three games)
Everest Gaming (poker)
BES SAS (owners of bwin, poker)
Pari Mutuel Urbain (owned by the French government, poker and sports betting)
Sajoo (poker and sports betting)
SPS France Betting (poker and sports betting)
Table 14 (poker and sports betting)
Beturf (horse and sports betting)
The French Games (horse and sports betting)
France Betting (horse and sports betting)
Iliad Gaming (horse and sports betting)

One notable absentee is PartyGaming who recently announced a multi-year contract with the famous Paris poker room Aviation Club de France. They intend to bring ACFPoker.com to the French market, but as president Vilotte stated, some license applications need further clarification. Some major operators, like Sportingbet, Betfair and William Hill have pulled away from France altogether for the time being.

In some form or other, the French government have collected revenue with the help of lotteries ever since the 16th century. Some history sources claim that the 18th century queen Marie Antoinette spent all of her personal wealth in lottery tickets.

Source: Poker News Daily.