Owners of French online gambling sites are getting set to start fighting the domestic live casino operators who do not want them to launch online casino and poker websites.  At this week’s government organized conference, the live casino operators were extremely vocal in their anger about online gambling sites with the situation changing very little from the conference last year.  Online gaming sites, however, are bucking the present regulations behind online gaming sites and one has gone as far as launching their own site based out of Gibraltar.

Patrick Partouche, the owner of the flamboyant French casino company Partouche Group who is the parent company of the Cypriot based online poker site Poker770, has decided that since no one at the conference has bothered to listen to his opinion, he was going to act instead of sitting around and waiting for a decision.  His company received a €40,000 fine with a 12 month prison sentence suspension for his online poker site.  Supposedly the site had violated French law by ‘targeting French online players’.  Partouche International, a subsidiary of the parent company, also received a fine in addition to two other individuals being fined and awarded suspended sentences.

During the conference, Partouche explained how the country’s smoking ban has devastated his business to the point where he has seen double digit losses in his casinos over the last year.  His own live casino businesses are being hurt by the number of online gaming sites.  “We have the monopoly on offering casino games in the country and pay dearly for it, having a tax of 58 percent to pay. However, we are the only group here today [referring to the presence of operators such as Unibet at the conference] that is unable to offer online casino games.”  He appealed for fair play and felt that he was being forced into competing with overseas operators even if it broke the law.  “I do not understand why I cannot do the same as them. If I am attacked legally in order that my site be closed down then they should do the same to all of the others,” said Partouche.

He is not the only casino operator that is complaining about the situation.  Georges Tranchant has had players asking when they would be offering an online site so that they could play and smoke at home since they can’t do it there.  Luc Leborgne is not happy with overseas operators.  He said, “In this hall there are a load of people who are conducting an illegal activity and the police are doing nothing to stop them.”

Partouche pointed that out that there are dozens of online gaming sites like Unibet and Bwin that are offering the French public games regardless of the current law.  Many of the live casinos are wanting to know why the authorities are turning a blind eye to them and not taking the side of those operators domestically licensed in France.