Page Summary: The best French betting sites, find where to bet if you are living in France. Betting in France differs slightly from other major European countries, with three main sports – horse racing, football and rugby union – vying for ascendancy. However, as always, billions of euros change hands every year. But where do punters place bets? And what currency choices are available in France? Check below for all the answers.

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• Best Online Horse Betting Sites

1. Casinos and off-track betting facilities can now apply to offer their own sportsbooks as well as partner with online sports betting providers to run any mobile apps for sports bettors. This means French Lick is in prime position to have both a retail location for residents to place sports bets as well as the ability to use their mobile devices.
2. The French betting sites that have not left the market do manage to turn a profit even if it’s not what operators had hoped when the government first regulated online gambling. Some sites have struggled and closed shop while others continue to do fairly well despite the frustrating legal environment.

Which French Betting Sites to Bet With

French betting sites are plentiful, so it could take you some time to locate the best. That’s why we’re here, though – to remove the hard labour and let you get on with wagering. With that in mind, check out these sites:

The most popular online gambling sites that operate in France are Bwin, Unibet and Betclic. All three of them hold a local license issued by ARJEL, the French regulatory authority for online games. Q: Are betting exchanges legal in France?

William Hill lead the way on our list of the top four websites to visit for French betting. Soccer’s Ligue 1 and the French Cup are well served by William Hill with new markets available daily, as well as fantastic live streaming coverage. However, rugby union, horse racing and handball are also given prominence, as is Tour de France cycling.

William Hill hold a fully valid French license so citizens can bet legally using their service:

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Coming in at No.2 on our French betting websites list are Unibet. As one of the leading bookies in Europe, Unibet possess many markets that concentrate on France. Ligue 1 soccer is a must, but Unibet also provides odds on the country’s lower divisions as well as domestic cup clashes. Rugby union, racing, tennis and all other sports are covered as well.

Unibet also have a full French gambling license so anyone living in France can use their bookmakers service legally:

Which Sports Are Most Popular At French Betting Sites?

Horse racing probably just beats soccer and rugby union to the No.1 spot in sports betting within France. No matter, it’s a three-horse race. However, France does play host to the richest race in Europe – with €4million in prize money – in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, Paris.

Moreover, it is the world’s second richest turf race after the Japan Cup and third overall, after the Dubai World Cup. Millions of euros are spent just on the Longchamp race making it the most popular at French betting sites by a distance.

But France also hosts the incredibly popular Grand Prix de Paris, Prix du Jockey Club, Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, Poule d’Essai des Poulains, and Prix de Diane, while British and Irish races also fare well, with the likes of the Aintree Grand National well-liked by punters at French betting sites as well.

Soccer might be No.2, with Ligue 1 bets common, but The Top 14 rugby union competition certainly has a claim to that second spot, too. Then there is cycling, with its Tour de France, French Open tennis at Roland Garros, handball, basketball and even futsal and sailing.

The world’s oldest sports car race, 24 Hours of Le Mans, is fashionable, too, as is Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix.

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Which Odds Format Is Used At French Betting Sites?

Decimal odds, as with almost all continental European countries, are most popular. It’s a simple system and the easiest to use for punters.

Decimal odds state how much money can be won from a base bet of one unit, with bookies quoting a figure that is the winning amount paid to bettors. For instance, odds of 4.50 indicate the pay-out will be four-and-a-half times the stake, resulting in a €1 bet paying out €4.50 for a win.

However, punters must be aware that one unit can mean 1, 10 or even 100, so it is wise to be informed of a particular bookmakers’ preference. Most bookies will give odds out to two decimal places, thus providing greater accuracy for punters.

Currency Options For French Bettors

Most betting websites encourage punters to work in the currency of their country, so French bettors will wager in euros.

All forms of gambling are regulated and legal in France.
Brick-and-mortar operations may host card games, casino games,
sportsbooks, and racing betting while online operations may offer
all the same except casino games. All-in-all, France is a
gambling-friendly nation.

It’s not all smooth sailing in France though. High taxes and
excessive regulation make it difficult for licensed gaming sites
to stay in business. Nearly half of the gaming sites that
acquired licenses in 2010 have since left the market. The high
taxes on poker pots and sports bets also affect players, which
has resulted in large numbers of players choosing to do business
with unlicensed foreign sites.

The good news is gamblers have options. Since there are no
laws that criminalize playing at unlicensed sites, players can
choose from the whole assortment of licensed and unlicensed
sites. If you like what you see at a French-legal gaming site,
you’re good to go. If you’d rather gamble somewhere else, you
can choose from a wide range of other options.

How Online Gambling is Regulated in France

The biggest change in gaming law in recent history happened
in 2010. After pressure from the EU to end its restrictive
gaming laws, the French government passed the Gambling Act (Law
number 2010-476). The act created the Regulatory Authority for
Online Games (ARJEL) whose responsibility it became to license
and regulate online gambling in France.

The Gambling Act was important for players, because it
disbanded the government monopoly that existed previous to the
passage of the law. Now, the French market was open to
competition from other EU gaming sites. 35 companies applied for
licenses and became the first non-government entities to offer
online poker, sports betting, and horse racing betting.

French politicians chose not to include traditional casino
games such as roulette, slot machines, and table games because they
felt those games would be too addictive. To this day,
traditional casino games aren’t offered by French-licensed
gaming sites.

Some of the bigger names to get licenses included PokerStars,
Party Poker, and Everest Poker. About a dozen sports betting
organizations also received licenses. The introduction of
competition to the market was a good thing for players, but
there was one problem: taxes.

The Gambling Act called for excessive taxes on both poker and
sports betting. All poker pots are taxed 2% in addition to the
rake poker sites normally take out of pots. To this day, players
pay upwards of 7.5% in total rake (compared to an industry
average of 4-5%) on every pot.

Sports betting was hit with an 8.5% tax on all bets placed.
Both sports betting and poker suffer from these taxes. Players
complain that the higher tax rates result in a
higher-than-normal rake in poker and less likelihood of making
money with sports betting. Several poker sites have even left
the market due to the onerous tax laws.

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To top it all off, the Gambling Act doesn’t allow player
pools to be shared across national borders. This means French
players are cut off from the international poker scene. When you
play on a licensed French poker site, you only play with people
who are located in France. This has caused liquidity problems
for licensed sites as they find it difficult to keep the games
running with a limited player pool.

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The high taxes and restricted player pool have led to many
players choosing to play at unlicensed sites headquartered out
of other countries. The French gambling market has great
potential, but it’s stifled by the burdensome regulations and
taxes.