Betsson France Lands ANJ Poker Licence, Joins Shared Pool
Betsson France has an online poker licence. The ANJ published the decision in the Journal officiel on 23 October 2026, handing the Nordic operator a 'jeux de cercle' authorisation, the category that covers poker. Five years, non-transferable. The offer has to run on betsson.fr.
The application went in on 22 June 2026. A separate decision, No 2026-PR-120 dated 16 October 2026, signed off the company's 'plateforme poker' software. And the regulator's licensed-operator list from 15 October, printed in the same issue, shows Betsson France SA holding a fixed-odds sports betting licence alongside the poker one. The sportsbook authorisation dates back to 21 September 2023.
Liquidity clearance rests on Article 14 II of Law No 2010-476 of 12 May 2010. Shared tables trace back to an agreement signed on 6 July 2017 by four regulators: France's ARJEL (now the ANJ), Spain's DGOJ, Italy's ADM and Portugal's SRIJ. Every regulator involved has to approve a shared pool, plus the gaming software. Betsson France must also notify the ANJ of any change to its liquidity-sharing contract, whether a new party joins or the deal ends.
Launch plans point to Playtech's iPoker network. Betsson has talked up the quality of the iPoker product, and the poker room will sit alongside its existing French sportsbook. Nadir Ounissi, the Casino Secret founder working with Betsson on the project, called the licence an important milestone for the company in France. Betsson's own framing: this is a play on French poker as it stands today, not a wager on France legalising online casino.
Poker is outgrowing a flat French market. Gross gaming revenue across French gambling, excluding casinos and gaming clubs, hit €5.66bn in the first half of 2026. Up just 0.5% year on year, against 4.1% growth in the prior year. Poker's half-year gain came after a flat first half of 2025. Sit & Go tournaments generated €202m, or 70% of the total.
Full-year 2025 poker revenue reached €525m, a 6.5% increase after a 2.1% fall in 2024. Tournament formats supplied all of that annual growth. Here's the wrinkle: the audience is widening faster than spending. Average revenue per active account was €126 in the first half, down from €153 a year earlier. Active poker accounts hit 2.5 million in 2025, up 16.5%, and unique players reached 1.9 million, up 15.1%. Fastest growth of the three online segments.
For affiliates, the per-account number is the one that matters. More players putting less through each account means acquisition volume still works, but retention and cross-sell into the sportsbook carry more of the margin. Betsson already has the sportsbook relationship in place. That's exactly the setup that makes a poker add-on pay.
Betsson France is the ninth operator authorised to launch online poker in the country. Before going live it must confirm to the ANJ that its data archiving system is operational. The licence then runs until 15 October 2031. Watch the first full-quarter account figures after launch. If the per-account average keeps sliding while unique player counts hold, the shared pool becomes the lever that decides whether the ninth licence turns into profitable volume.