🇫🇷France gambling regulation

Legal framework at a glance

France operates a hybrid model. Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010 opened three online verticals to licensed competition: sports betting, horse-race betting and poker (known in French law as jeux de cercle). Everything else online, including slots, roulette and blackjack, remains prohibited. Lottery games and retail sports betting are reserved to FDJ under exclusive rights, while PMU holds exclusive rights over off-course horse betting in shops and cafés.

Product	Online status	Notes
Sports betting	Licensed	Fixed-odds betting by ANJ-approved operators
Horse-race betting	Licensed	Pool (mutual) betting only
Poker	Licensed	Cash games and tournaments; shared liquidity allowed with some EU markets
Casino games	Prohibited	No licence category exists
Lottery	Monopoly	FDJ exclusive rights

The regulator

The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) became operational in June 2020, replacing ARJEL. Its remit is broader than its predecessor’s: alongside online licensing, it supervises FDJ and PMU, approves the annual player-protection and advertising strategies of operators, and pursues illegal gambling. Land-based casinos remain primarily under the Ministry of the Interior, although the ANJ manages the national exclusion register that casinos must check.

Licensing

Online licences are issued per vertical (sports betting, horse racing, poker) and are renewable for five-year periods. Operators must meet technical requirements, including a French-hosted data “frontal” that records gaming activity for the regulator’s checks, and must demonstrate their responsible-gambling and anti-money-laundering controls. The ANJ publishes the list of approved operators; anything not on that list is unlicensed in France. Our guide on how to check if a gambling site is licensed explains what to look for.

Online products — what is and isn’t legal

Online casino games remain illegal. Offering them to French residents can lead to criminal prosecution of the operator, and the ANJ can order domain blocking, search-engine delisting and payment blocking. Players are not usually prosecuted, but they have no French consumer protection if an unlicensed site withholds winnings.

The question of legalising online casino has returned repeatedly. A draft amendment to the 2025 budget, tabled in autumn 2024, proposed opening the market with taxes and player-protection conditions, but it was withdrawn after opposition from land-based casinos and public-health voices. Industry groups have since published estimates of large black-market participation and called for regulation. As of October 2026, no casino bill has been adopted, and land-based casino operators continue to oppose liberalisation. Treat any claim that online casino “will be legal soon” with caution.

Taxation

France taxes gambling through several stacked levies. Online sports and horse betting are taxed on gross gaming product (stakes minus winnings), while online poker is taxed on stakes. Contributions go to the state, the social-security system, sports bodies and, for horse racing, the equine sector. Rates were the subject of significant debate in the 2025 social-security financing process, so operators and analysts should check the current General Tax Code before relying on any single figure. Sports betting operators must also keep their payout ratio below a legal ceiling. For a cross-country view, see gambling taxation compared.

Advertising and marketing rules

Gambling advertising is legal for licensed operators but closely supervised. Every advert must carry a health warning and reference the national helpline. Advertising aimed at minors, or featuring people who appear to be minors, is banned, as are messages suggesting gambling is a way to make money or achieve social success. Under the post-2020 framework, operators must submit an annual promotional strategy to the ANJ, which can demand changes. The ANJ has repeatedly criticised the volume of betting advertising around major sporting events. More detail is in gambling advertising rules.

Player-protection requirements

Licensed operators must:

• verify identity and age before an account is fully activated;
• require players to set deposit and stake limits when they open an account;
• check the national exclusion register before allowing play;
• display a moderation message and the helpline number;
• offer operator-level self-exclusion and cooling-off tools;
• identify and act on signs of excessive play, as set out in their ANJ-approved action plan.

Self-exclusion

The national interdiction volontaire de jeux lasts at least three years and covers casinos, gaming clubs, account-based FDJ and PMU play and all licensed websites. The full step-by-step process is set out in our France self-exclusion manual.

Enforcement against unlicensed operators

The ANJ can order internet service providers to block illegal sites, ask search engines to delist them and request that payment flows be frozen. These blocking powers are now administrative, so the ANJ no longer has to go through the courts for each site. Enforcement is complicated by mirror domains that reappear quickly, a challenge shared across Europe and covered in payment blocking and ISP blocking.

Recent developments and what to watch

• Online casino debate: expect renewed proposals in future budget cycles; none had passed by October 2026.
• Taxation: social-security funding debates continue to target gambling revenue.
• Advertising pressure: the ANJ continues to scrutinise betting promotion around sport.
• Black market: estimates of offshore casino use are rising and are central to the regulation argument.

If gambling is causing problems for you or someone close to you, our France help directory lists free services. This page is general information, not legal advice.