Betsson France licensed for online poker by the ANJ

Last updated: 1 Nov 2026, 08:55 CET: first published

Betsson France has been licensed to offer online poker in France. The country's gambling regulator, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), granted the licence on 15 October 2026 for five years. The same day it authorised Betsson to let its French players join poker tables shared with other countries, on conditions the ANJ set. Betsson plans to use Playtech's iPoker platform. No launch date has been announced.

What the ANJ approved

The ANJ published two decisions on its website on 21 October.

• The poker licence. Decision 2026-171 approves Betsson France for "jeux de cercle en ligne", the French legal term for online poker, under number 0061-PO-2026-10-15-AGR-00. It runs for five years from 15 October 2026, is renewable and cannot be transferred. The approved site is www.betsson.fr. Betsson applied on 22 June 2026.
• Shared liquidity. Decision 2026-172 authorises Betsson, under number 0061-PO-LIQU-2026-10-15, to let players with a definitive account (the ANJ's term, "compte définitif") join shared poker tables.

Before it starts, Betsson must declare its data-archiving system to the ANJ. Certifications follow after: the system must be certified within six months of going into operation, and a further certification is due within one year of the licence, then every year.

What shared tables mean, and what still has to happen

French online poker is not limited to French players. Under a convention signed on 6 July 2017, France's regulator agreed with its counterparts in Spain, Italy and Portugal that licensed sites can pool players at the same tables. Decision 2026-172 lets Betsson take part, but only under three conditions:

• every gambling regulator concerned has to agree;
• the poker software used for the shared tables has to be approved (homologated);
• Betsson has to tell the ANJ about any change to the sharing arrangement, including new members joining or the agreement being ended.

So the cross-border tables are authorised in principle. As of 1 November, neither the ANJ pages nor NEXT.io report them live. The decisions do not name a platform or a start date.

Playtech iPoker and Betsson's reasoning

The platform comes from Betsson, not the regulator. Nadir Ounissi, partner at Betsson France, told NEXT.io: "Securing our online poker licence marks an important milestone for Betsson in France. With Playtech's established poker platform, we aim to offer players a compelling experience that reflects our commitment to quality, customer service and responsible gaming."

Betsson France launched its sportsbook in the third quarter of 2024, according to NEXT.io. According to NEXT.io, when asked whether poker was a bet on wider iGaming legalisation, the company said its "decision is based on the French poker market as it stands today, rather than expectations of future regulatory change."

How the French market works

France licenses three kinds of online gambling: sports betting, horse-race betting and poker. The ANJ states that online casino games "remain strictly prohibited" (our translation). For the size of the regulated market and how bonuses are spent, see our report on ANJ's first-half 2026 figures.

On the morning of 1 November, the ANJ's online poker page said poker was offered by seven licensed operators, and its operator list still showed Betsson France with sports betting only. Neither page had caught up with the October decisions. NEXT.io describes Betsson as the ninth operator authorised for online poker in France; we could not match that count to the ANJ's own pages.

Our reading

For French players this adds a new poker room rather than a new kind of game. What matters more is the size of the player pool: a room that joins the shared tables competes on traffic with established names. If those conditions are not met, Betsson's tables would draw on French accounts only. We will update this piece when Betsson names a launch date.

For the group's latest results, see Betsson's third quarter. For other poker markets on the move, see Norway's online poker consultation and 888's regulated poker launch in Alberta.

Updates

• 1 Nov 2026: first published.