Gaming market available to French players
Officials in France have granted citizens the right to play online gambling in the country.
According to a decree published in the Official Journal, French people can now log onto their computers for bets on sporting events as well as games of online slots and online roulette.
The change in the law ends 471 years of state monopoly on gambling set up under King Francois I's reign in 1539. Since that time, gambling has been in state control with authorities delegating gambling rights across land casinos, the national lottery and horse racing.
Just in time for kick off
The announcement comes just three days ahead of this summer's World Cup in South Africa, which some analysts are predicting will be the biggest gambling event of all time.
Lorien Pilling is the head of research for Global Betting and has claimed that this year's tournament will take 15 per cent more bets than the 2006 competition. He cited a number of factors behind this:
- The South African time zone means games will be on at an ideal time for people in Europe - where football is arguably most popular
- All major teams and big nations have qualified
- People who attended games in Germany will be less likely to make it to South Africa because of the distances involved and, as a result, they may be more inclined to gamble at home
- Improvements in online gambling and technology mean that bets can now be placed during play.
Of course, UK online casino players looking to grab a slice of the action this summer can check out Kerching's online casino for some great games between matches.