In France, online gambling is legal but tightly restricted: only sports betting, horse race betting and poker are licensed by the national regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ). Online casino games (slots, roulette, blackjack) remain prohibited for private operators in 2026, and no crypto casino holds a French licence. Player winnings are not subject to income tax, but you should stick to ANJ-licensed sites — offshore and crypto casinos operate outside French law and offer no local protection.

France runs a partial, vertical-by-vertical model. Under the Law of 12 May 2010 (Loi n° 2010-476), the online market was opened for three verticals only:

  • Sports betting (fixed-odds and pool betting)
  • Horse race betting (pool/parimutuel betting)
  • Poker (Texas Hold’em and Omaha variants, treated as involving skill)

Online casino games — slots, roulette, blackjack, baccarat — are not licensed. A government attempt to authorise online casinos in the draft 2025 budget was withdrawn in October 2024 after strong opposition from land-based casino operators and public-health advocates. A national consultation followed, but as of 2026 the ban still stands.

The regulator and licensing regime

The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) is France’s independent gambling regulator. It was created on 1 January 2020 and officially took over from ARJEL (the online regulator set up in 2010) in June 2020, with a broader remit that also covers oversight of FDJ, PMU and land-based casinos. The ANJ licenses and supervises online sports betting, horse racing and poker operators, approves the strategic plans of monopoly operators (FDJ, PMU), and enforces player-protection and anti-money-laundering rules.

Licences run for five years and are renewable. In April 2026, for example, the ANJ granted Hillside (New Media Malta), operator of the Bet365 brand, an online sports betting licence — adding to a field of around 16 ANJ-licensed sports betting bookmakers.

Licensed vs offshore operators

TypeStatus in FranceExamples
Sports bettingLegal, ANJ-licensedBetclic, Winamax, Unibet, PMU, Parions Sport, NetBet
Horse racingLegal, ANJ-licensedPMU, Genybet, Zeturf
Online pokerLegal, ANJ-licensedWinamax, PokerStars, Betclic Poker
Online casino (slots/roulette)Prohibited(none licensed)
Offshore/crypto casinosNot licensed in FranceVarious offshore brands

If a site offers online slots or live-dealer roulette to French residents, it is not ANJ-licensed. Always verify a brand on the official list at anj.fr.

Payments locals actually use

On ANJ-licensed sites, French players typically use Carte Bancaire (Visa/Mastercard debit), bank transfers, and e-wallets such as PayPal, Skrill and Neteller. Paysafecard is common for smaller top-ups, and PMU and FDJ retail networks let players fund accounts in tabacs (tobacconists) across the country.

French-licensed gambling runs in euros, and no crypto-only casino holds an ANJ licence. The notable exception is YESorNO, an ANJ-licensed sports-betting operator that lets players deposit cryptocurrency through a partner service (Lyzi) which instantly converts it into euros before the funds hit the betting account — reported as the first legal use of crypto-assets in French online gambling. Players who instead use offshore Bitcoin casinos are gambling on sites that are not authorised in France and provide no local dispute resolution or player protection — proceed with caution, if at all.

Tax on player winnings

Good news for recreational players: individual gambling winnings are not subject to French income tax. Lottery, sports betting, poker and casino winnings are tax-free for the player, with tax levied instead on operators via gross gaming revenue. (Land-based casino wins over €1,500 attract a 12% levy, but this is handled at the establishment rather than charged to the player as income tax.) The exception is gambling pursued as a habitual, professional business activity, which can become taxable — if that applies to you, confirm your position with the French tax authorities.

Safer gambling resources

France mandates deposit, wagering and loss limits plus self-exclusion on licensed sites, and the ANJ operates a national self-exclusion register. If gambling stops being fun, help is free and confidential:

18+ only. Gambling can be addictive — please play responsibly and set limits.

Sources