The work of the French new Regulatory Authority on online gambling (Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne or ARJEL) is moving forward as we approach the starting of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. This is actually the final straight of a process that began there a few months ago. The final validation of the law relating to online gambling, poker and online sports betting are completed last month, the publication of licenses was expected and have just been published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010. According to this approval, seventeen sites which belong to 11 companies now called "operators" such as the PMU, La Française des Jeux, Sajoo, BES SAS, Bwin Interactive Entertainment AG, SPS Betting France, France Pari ... will be the first to offer this kind of business over the Internet.

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Sports betting will be the first online gambling to be offered and and it concerns fifteen disciplines including of course football but also rugby, basketball, motor sports, golf and horse racing. Poker, the only online casino game which is authorized by the French law must wait the end of the month even if some of the licenses granted Tuesday concerns this activity. For football, the discipline king of sport, it will occupy itself during the World Cup in South Africa the forefront of online gaming with the 64 different bets on matches involving the 32 qualified countries. According to the Cabinet NPA, the amount of bets of the French online market could reach about six billion Euro in 2013 if this year it will amount between 2 to 3 billion Euro. The free competition of online gaming is finally a reality in France after 471 years of monopoly.

Source:  Poker 777

Wednesday, 09 June 2010