As predicted, since the newly liberalised French online gambling market opened its doors for business, the initial months have seen a frenzy of activity – the newly formed Regulator (ARJEL) has worked exhaustively behind the scenes to ensure a controlled and successful opening of the market, while local operators anxiously jostled to benefit from the Football World Cup tournament.

According to initial figures from the French authority, operators garnered revenue of 107 million euros ($138 million) during the World Cup, not such a bad tournament for the French after all!!

Although South Africa 2010 was hailed as a great success, it is important not to lose sight of the bigger picture: whether or not operators can be successful in the .fr world. To date, the government has received close to 50 applications for licences under the new regime. As this is significantly less than the 200 initially predicted back in 2008, it is clear a large number of interested parties, especially European operators, are still unsure or unconvinced of the market benefits.

As part of our continued commitment to connect the gambling community and create high level discussion, Awedacity Ltd is delighted to deliver a time-critical forum examining the lessons learnt and steps to consider if operating in or interested in entering into the French online gambling market.

Hear from the Regulator, local experts and newly licensed operators as they come together to openly discuss the achievements and where improvements can be made to ensure continued market success. Join key figures as they tackle some of the pressing issues from high taxes to offering services using .fr and offer valuable, practical guidance, now that there has been time to assess operations to date.

Industry dialogue is essential for newly licensed operators or anyone with a vested interest in the French market. If you are interested to learn more about the current state of play or what steps industry should now consider when entering the French market this is one gathering you must attend.

The commission’s final report was published by the government late in June and it recommended Australia introduce new player protection requirements and stake limits for gaming machines as well as supporting the managed liberalization of online casino and poker in Australia.

Whilst the Government announced its support for key reform directions to minimise the harm caused by problem gambling, it stood firm against the liberalization of online gaming, with some Ministers saying they plan to hold ‘government-to-government’ talks with the Obama administration over the viability of US-style payments blocking restrictions.

The Productivity Commission also recommended that the licences held by Tatts and Tabcorp should not be renewed and that the monopoly arrangements are a ‘rare privilege’, unfair to gamblers in an age where choice is the name of the game. Despite the commission’s recommendation, the government has decided to continue with its tender of the new retail wagering licence beyond 2012.

We invite you to join Gaming Associates, experts in the interactive gaming and wagering industry, and leading officials who will seek to address the impact of the report and determine what this now means for the online gaming sector in Australia.

Les nouveaux agréments permettront à la SFJI de lancer son offre de poker au début de l’automne, vraisemblablement sous la marque 200pourcentpoker.fr, sur la plateforme jointe de Microgaming et 888, les deux groupes étant en partenariat pour offrir une liquidité commune de poker aux joueurs français.

La SFJI est un groupement de 19 actionnaires détenant ensemble 40 casinos sur l’ensemble du territoire français et a signé un accord avec Spiral Solutions France, la joint venture établie par le Groupe Santa Maria et Spiral Solutions, qui offrira sa solution de poker via la plateforme commune de 888 et Microgaming.

Pour ce dernier, ses licenciés majeurs tels Ladbrokes devront déposer leurs demandes d’agrément auprès de l’ARJEL et obtenir leurs licences d’opérateurs pour opérer en France.

• On the basis of a preliminary review of the draft decree, the most relevant provisions appear to be the following:
• the company holding the remote gaming license has to be established in any country of the European Economic Area, but the servers of the company can be located in any country of the EEA or in any other country that has entered into a bilateral agreement with AAMS;
• operators will be entitled to resell gaming vouchers to recharge gaming accounts and therefore the so called “punti di commercializzazione” will not be fully banned, but it will be prohibited the installation of gaming terminals (i.e. totems);the guidelines for the certification of gaming platforms for poker cash games and casino games were notified together with the draft decree and, as a consequence of that, the launch of such new games is likely to occur shortly after the final approval of the decree.

Given the above, it is time to get ready for new operators planning to target the Italian gaming market. In this respect, feel free to contact me, Giulio Coraggio, if you need assistance in relation to the above.

More information about the event can be found at http://www.franceonlineconference.com/ or call +44 (0)7581 471 571 or +44 (0)7581 406 606 now. The delegate rate is only €449.00 (if booked by 9 April) and spaces are limited.