Betsson France Wins ANJ Poker Licence and Approval to Join Shared Tables

France's Autorité Nationale des Jeux has granted Betsson France a five-year online poker licence and conditional approval to join tables shared with Spain, Italy and Portugal. It takes a sports-betting-only business into a segment whose revenue grew 13.4% in the first half of 2026.

• The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) granted Betsson France a five-year online poker licence on 15 October 2026
• A second decision authorises shared poker liquidity under a 2017 agreement between the French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese regulators, subject to conditions
• The ANJ approved Betsson France's poker platform software on 16 October, and Betsson told NEXT.io it will run poker on Playtech's iPoker network
• Online poker gross gaming revenue in France reached €290 million in the first half of 2026, up 13.4%, according to the ANJ's half-year market report
• No launch date has been announced, and Betsson's third-quarter report, published a week after the decisions, does not mention the licence

France's Regulator Adds Poker to Betsson's Sports Betting Licence

The ANJ's college, chaired by President Pascal Chevremont, adopted decision 2026-171 on 15 October, granting Betsson France a licence for online "jeux de cercle", the French legal category for poker. According to the decision, the licence runs for five years from 15 October 2026, is renewable and non-transferable, and applies to www.betsson.fr. Betsson France applied on 22 June 2026, and must declare its data archiving system operational to the ANJ before it starts. The ANJ published the decision on 21 October, and Italian trade outlet Jamma reports that it appeared in the Journal officiel on 23 October.

Decision 2026-172, adopted the same day, authorises Betsson France to let fully registered players join poker tables shared with other jurisdictions under article 14 of France's 2010 online gambling law. It rests on the 6 July 2017 convention between France's then regulator ARJEL and the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese regulators. The authorisation carries three conditions: every regulator concerned must agree, the software used must be approved, and Betsson France must report any change to the sharing arrangement.

On 16 October the ANJ approved the company's poker platform software, in a decision published on 29 October that does not name a supplier. Betsson told NEXT.io it will use Playtech's iPoker network, citing its poker experience and the quality of Playtech's offer. Nadir Ounissi, described by NEXT.io as a partner in Betsson France, called the licence "an important milestone for Betsson in France".

A Sports Betting Joint Venture Steps Into Poker

Betsson France's first licence, ANJ decision 2023-197 of 21 September 2023, is a five-year sports betting licence for betsson.fr. Betsson AB said at the time it would run the French business through a joint venture with a local partner under the Betsson brand. On 30 October the ANJ's published list of approved operators still showed Betsson France for sports betting only, alongside seven companies with poker licences, including the operators of Winamax, PokerStars, Betclic and Unibet. NEXT.io and Jamma describe Betsson as the ninth operator authorised for online poker in France.

Betsson's interim report of 22 October says French revenue rose year on year but fell from the second quarter on a lower sportsbook margin. It gives no French revenue figure; poker, bingo and other products together brought in €1.3 million, 1% of group revenue. Asked by NEXT.io whether the move anticipated a wider opening of French online gambling, Betsson said its decision was based on "the French poker market as it stands today, rather than expectations of future regulatory change".

Poker Is the Growth Segment France Already Allows

According to the ANJ's half-year report, poker gross gaming revenue reached €290 million in the first half of 2026, up 13.4% after a 0.4% fall a year earlier, and active player accounts rose 38.5% to 2.3 million. Sit&Go games, almost all with variable prize pools, generated 70% of that revenue, or €202 million. Revenue per active account fell 18% to €126, a wider but shallower player base. For a casino-led group, poker is arguably the nearest licensed product France offers, though Betsson says its rationale rests on the market as it is.

Shared Tables Are Authorised on Paper, Not Yet in Practice

Liquidity drives poker, and a newcomer without it struggles to fill tables. Decision 2026-172 lets Betsson share players across borders only once every regulator concerned agrees and the software is approved, and Jamma notes that the French decision does not by itself open tables to Italian players. Neither the ANJ nor Betsson has said which foreign markets Betsson's French players would meet. Pooling is contested elsewhere too, with Ontario's plan to pool its players internationally awaiting a judgment from Canada's Supreme Court.

The Commercial Detail Is Still Missing

No release on the licence appears among Betsson AB's regulatory announcements, and its quarterly report is silent on it. No launch date, investment, revenue target or change to the joint venture's terms has been disclosed. The five-year term has been running since 15 October regardless.

The ANJ has given Betsson the licence and software approval it needs to deal cards in France. Whether those cards are dealt at busy tables depends on shared-liquidity approvals and a launch plan that Betsson has yet to make public.