IFHA News No.3 (2010)
8th April, 2010
On 6th April, Online Gaming Law passed the French Parliament (Assemblée Nationale) and finally French online market will be open to licensed operators.
Here are some important points of the law.
Legalized Gaming:

• Horseracing (Pari-mutual only.)
• Sports Betting (Fixed odds are available)
• Poker
• Live Betting (in-play betting)

* Betting Exchange methods are banned in all activities.
Managing Authority

• Create regulatory body called ARJEL (Autorité de Regulation des Jeux En Ligne)

* Legality of web sites will be judged by the court, not ARJEL
License to Operators

• 5 years in duration and renewable

* Operators will be required to have a separate account for activities in France.
* Players in France need to hold a domestic bank account and anonymous payment will be banned.
* In order to prevent ‘hackers’ from intervening, security on players’ identity and creation of access code for each player are required.
Distribution
Horseracing

• between 80% and 85% of the turnover will be returned to players
• 7.5% of the turnover goes to the government
• 8% of the turnover will be spared for racing industry

* 10 million euros will be used for addiction.

Licensed operators will start operating to be in time for the World Cup in South Africa, starting on 11th June.