PokerStars and bwin.party secure French licence renewals
Operators obtain five-year licence extensions to operate online poker as relicensing process continues
PokerStars and bwin.party were among a batch of operators to receive five year licence extensions to operate in the French online gambling market, the regulator announced yesterday.
The Amaya Gaming-owned poker giant received its online poker-licence from the French online gambling regulator l’Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) on Thursday following the expiration of its original licence issued in May 2010, when the market was first opened to competition from foreign operators.
The regulator also approved extensions for France Pari to develop sports and horse racing betting software, while bwin.party received a licence to operate online poker games for its PartyPoker brand until 2020 after having earlier received approval for sports betting.
Last month ARJEL announced its first set of licence renewals with bwin.party, Unibet, PMU and Betclic Everest Group among the recipients given approval to operate online horseracing betting, sports betting and poker.
According to the most recent figures released by ARJEL, gross gaming revenue from regulated French online sportsbook operators soared 17% year-on-year to 63m in Q1 2015, outpacing the overall market which rose a more modest 3% to 190m during the period.
Last week the French online gambling trade body Association Francaise de Jeu en Ligne (AFJEL) called for a review of the country’s legislative framework to happen “as quickly as possible” in order to improve conditions in the heavily taxed market.