France getting Tough on Online Poker
On April 7, 2010 France passed an historic bill legalizing and
regulating online gambling, and that included poker. At the time of the
bill passing people were very excited, as the legalization and taxation
of online poker would put online casino’s into a position of “legal,”
and on the same level as brick and mortar casinos in France. French
residents were optimistic that the new law would diversify a largely
state run monopoly and give the French consumer more choice in where
they spend their money, while not worrying that what they were doing was
“illegal.”
Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be how it all
turned out. As of May 13th 2010 the new law has seen it’s first two
casualties. As of May 13, both Betfair and Sportingbet (owners of
Paradise Poker) have pulled out of the French market sighting an
insurmountable tax burden and stiff state-run competition. Tim Phillips
(European Public Affairs Director @ Betfair) was quoted as saying “We
are looking very hard at the French market and how we might operate
within the new licensed regime. 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 licence holders. French legislation will certainly benefit
the incumbent players and the ultimate loser will be the French
consumer. The new law does not adequately open the former monopoly’s
market to true competition from other operators. We hope that the
review, scheduled 18 months from now, will amend the law to address
these flaws.”
Currently in France the application process is
beginning without the full law being decided upon yet, but this much is
known: The industry will be brought in line with live casinos and horse
racing. Taxes will be levied on any licensed regulator so that two
percent of each poker bet and 7.5 percent of each sports or horse racing
bet will go directly to the French government. However, a portion of
those monies will be dedicated to gambling addiction programs. No word
yet on the cost of the license, but typically these licenses cost a lot
of money up front, and then yearly to maintain. The bill also includes
provisions to address the issue of underage gambling and rooting out
criminal activities.
So, it seems to me that the holy grail of
American Online poker players may be a false hope. After France
legalized the practice, a whole slew of new problems arose. Maybe
keeping it as a “don’t ask, don’t tell” operation is preferable to
shining a light on an imperfect industry.
