Sportingbet owned Paradise Poker announced this week they will no longer accept players from France and Italy due to regulatory changes in those countries.


In March online gambling operators were issued a set of conditions (called Draft Specification Requirements List) they must fulfill if they want to obtain a license to offer games to French customers. The new French gaming market is expected to open on May 19th.

Another British gambling operator, Betfair have also announced they will withdraw from France following the new conditions. "Though it’s not impossible for a newcomer to create a commercially viable business, most projections show it will be very difficult to do so, given the proposed restrictions imposed on license holders," Tim Phillips from Betfair explained.

In 2006 Paradise Poker along with many other operators withdrew from the USA following the UIGEA.

Source: Poker News Daily.