Betsson Secures French Online Poker Licence and Liquidity-Sharing Approval

France’s gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has granted Betsson France an online poker licence and separate authorisation to share poker liquidity internationally.

Both decisions were adopted on October 15 and published on ANJ’s website on October 21. They provide a regulatory route for Betsson to add poker to its existing French sports betting business, although the decisions do not announce a launch date. 

Five-Year Licence for Betsson.fr

The poker licence runs for five years from October 15, 2026. It is renewable and non-transferable, with the authorised offering to operate through betsson.fr.

Betsson submitted its application on June 22. Before starting operations, the company must notify ANJ that its required data-archiving infrastructure is operational.

The decision also sets out independent certification obligations. Certification covering archiving and related requirements must be submitted within six months of the infrastructure becoming operational. A broader certification addressing game integrity and information security is due within one year of the licence being granted and must subsequently be updated annually. 

Betsson already holds a French sports betting approval issued on September 21, 2023. The new decision adds a separate product authorisation rather than extending the scope of that existing licence automatically. 

Cross-Border Pools Require Further Conditions

ANJ’s second decision permits players with fully validated Betsson France accounts to participate in shared online poker tables under the applicable international framework.

The authorisation references the July 2017 liquidity-sharing agreement between the French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian gambling regulators. Participation remains conditional on approval from every regulator concerned and certification of the software used for shared games.

Betsson must also inform ANJ of changes to its liquidity-sharing arrangements, including new participants joining or existing participants leaving the agreement. The permission therefore establishes the conditions for international pooling without confirming which markets or partners will be connected at launch. 

Neither decision identifies a poker software supplier, an opening tournament schedule or an expected player-pool size.