French Online Poker Still Declining
Tuesday May 5,2015 : FRENCH ONLINE POKER CONTINUES DECLINE
But the prospect of shared liquidity moving forward
Online poker once again failed to impress during the first quarter of 2015, the French regulatory authority ARJEL revealed in its first quarterly report of 2015.
The French regulated market yielded a total gross gaming revenue of Euro 190 million, largely attributed to a rise in sports betting as horse race betting remained flat and online poker declined.
French operators took stakes of Euro 351 million during the quarter, up 38 percent over the same period last year while gross profits amounted to Euro 63 million, up 17 percent.
Overall active player numbers grew 27 percent to 202000 and pay out ratios rose to 82.1 percent compared to 79 percent in quarter 1 of 2014.
Despite sports betting stakes in handball and basketball rising 87 percent and 42 percent respectively, football and tennis remained the most popular betting sports during the quarter. The sports betting sector delivered a 3 percent rise in gross gaming revenue.
Online poker saw a decline of 15 percent regarding cash game stakes with gross profits dropping a further 5 percent to Euro 61 million.
Horse race betting dipped 1 percent in terms of pari mutuel stakes to Euro 266 million. Gross profit remained static and amounted to Euro 66 million.
In related news, Christian Eckert, The French Budget Secretary reiterated the Country’s commitment to tackling problem gambling saying the French Government attaches much importance to the promotion of responsible recreational play while welcoming the launch of a new online initiative EVALUJEU today (Tuesday).
EVALUJEU will allow players to anonymously track and assess their personal gaming practices while benefiting from personalised advice.
Eckert also revealed a package of measures due to be presented as part of the online draft law which include:
Player protection: allowing players to use their gaming data for prevention purposes.
Consumer protection: a mediation mechanism which will facilitate the resolution of disputes.
And finally, a provision that will allow for the much anticipated sharing of European poker liquidity with other EU regulatory authorities in specific agreements with ARJEL.
