Reports emanating from PokerNews have suggested that shared online poker liquidity between .eu countries could be back on French cards in April after the French gaming regulator Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) reported that an amendment to the existing bill will be pushed beneath their noses.
The on/off saga of French online poker liquidity might be back on if reports emanating from PokerNews are correct.
According to the news giant the French gaming regulator Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) has said that a fresh Digital Bill is to be placed into the desks of the French senate in April that will contain wording, that if passed, will allow ring-fenced French online poker rooms to share liquidity with other nations who are trying to play online poker with one arm tied behind their back.
Before French online players get too excited, we have been here before, many times. ARJEL has been jostling with members of the French National Assembly for several years now. It’s always been a case of one step forward, before a Mike Powell sized leap backwards. Let’s hope this time things are different.
To be clear, even if the amendment satisfies members of the National Assembly and the doors of the French online poker rooms are swung open, it doesn’t mean the rest of the .com world will get passed the doorman. Their names will not be on the list. They will not be allowed in.
Instead, neighbouring countries such as Italy and Spain, who have similar restrictions in place, will be allowed to share liquidity, should negotiations between each countries legislators prove fruitful.
Barely a fortnight has passed since we reported that the idea of online poker liquidity sharing in France was dead after French legislators once again turned down ARJEL’s proposals (they did the same in 2013). This despite backing from Emmanuel Macron, minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, who said he was willing to work with ARJEL to find a solution.
The news that the French may crack this golden egg will be good news to grinders based in Portugal. At the beginning of the month we reported that the Associação Nacional de Apostadores Online, a group created to protect the interest of online gamblers in Portugal, had urged their members to refuse to play in emerging sites in the country after it was decreed that their online poker market would also be ring-fenced.
