France is one of two EU countries to ban online casinos - for now

Proposals to allow online casinos to operate in France have been put on hold by the government in the face of opposition from the 200 casinos with physical premises in the country, as well as organisations fighting gambling addiction.

France and Cyprus are the only European Union countries to ban online casinos, but the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), charged with some of the regulation of gambling, estimates that three million French people played online in 2023 using sites situated outside the country.

Authorising online casinos in France would bring in an estimated €1 billion a year in specific taxes, the government said and would also allow better control, including tracking people who appear addicted to online games.

However, the trade body Casinos de France estimated that the move will reduce the amount gambled in its casinos by between 20% and 30%, forcing around a third to close with the loss of 15,000 jobs – and the loss of taxes that the casinos pay.

It has long pushed for measures allowing only the owners of physical casinos in France to operate online.

The ANJ estimates that in 2023 €13.4 billion made in pre-tax profit by companies running gambling in legal ways in France, with €2.7 billion coming from casinos.

Read more: French senate votes for increase in taxes on tobacco, gambling and soda

How is gambling regulated in France?

Other gambling regulated in the state is through the PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) – a French betting organisation primarily for horse racing – and the official Loto, although this was privatised in a very successful stock market listing.

Initially planned for a fast-track authorisation by decree, the law change on online gambling was withdrawn in late autumn for “further consultation”.

Casinos in France were for many years only allowed in tourist towns. In their modern form they started in seasonal mobile gaming rooms which were allowed in spa towns during the summer while wealthy people “took the waters”.

A ban on casinos for 100km around Paris was imposed in 1919, in order to protect the capital’s workers from vice although it was relaxed within 10 years  for spa resorts close to the capital.

The spa of Enghien-les-Bains (Val-d'Oise) was the main beneficiary.

Gambling in Paris could only take place in private cercles de jeux until 2017 when clubs de jeux opened.

Membership of these clubs can sometimes be obtained instantly, but the clubs still face restrictions on slot machines.

A law change in 1988 allowed new casinos to be opened in large towns without tourism as a main activity and led to the growth in numbers to the 200 casinos active today.

While some try to replicate the glamour of a James Bond film, others, such as one in Bordeaux, are in “big box”-style sheds, with only neon lights on the outside distinguishing them from surrounding warehouses.

Read more: France looks to authorise online casinos

Rules around online gambling in France

Legal online gambling is allowed through the government’s Loto which allowed people to register online and play the games around 15 years ago, ending a monopoly associated with bureaux de tabac.

But the French Loto only allows people to play online from computers or smart phones in France or Monaco.

In 2023 €21 billion was placed in bets on the Loto with €14.5 billion returned to players in the form of winnings.

Of the €6.5 billion ‘profit’, €4.2 billion was then paid in tax and social security contributions.

Only the PMU can run off-course horse racing betting operations in France.

Since 2010 the PMU, which is still managed by the nation’s horse racing courses, was allowed to operate online. It now also offers bets on other sports, as well as online poker.

The organisation has its own tax regime for historic reasons, and pays 20.2% in taxes with another 6.9% going to social security.

In 2023, it made a net profit after tax of around €800 million for the horse racing and trotting organisations which own it.

Government plans for a sharp rise in betting taxes provoked a strike at race courses in November – the first time there has not been racing since it was suspended during the two World Wars.