Things are looking up for gambling in France

The troubled French gambling market appears to be showing some signs of renewed life, although online operators in particular continue to push for a more sensible approach to regulation and taxation.

At the recent iGaming Conference in France regulator ARJEL revealed that things are better this year, with stats up to late March showing an increase in sports wagers of 11 percent.

Poker cash game betting declined 3 percent, but was compensated by an increase in 28 percent on tournament buy-ins, whilst horserace betting soared 15 percent.

Observers pointed out that the sports betting improvement was all the more impressive, because Q4-2011 was a dismal period that delivered a 23 percent decline in bets .

The downside of these positive numbers is that operators had to spend a lot more in promotions and marketing to achieve them, something which was acknowledged by chief regulator Jean-Francois Vilotte, who appears to have realised that this sort of expenditure cannot be maintained indefinitely.

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