French Lessons
What Can We Learn From The Recent Developments in France ?
All the major players have been fiercly contesting the new French market.
BWIN, Party, Chili, PokerStars are some of the sites that have successfully secured French licences. These companes are ofcourse pressuring the authorities to get rid of the black market operators such as FTP to give them the best chance to make money for the French government.
In my honest opinion France is too small to merit so many licencees and the battle will be fought on liquidity. Once player’s realise there is better traffic and a better selection of games at one room in particular its going to be tough for the others to claw their way back. Its very interesting because France is a blank canvas and it will be interesting if Pokerstars can utilise their superior player base to get an early lead.
Personally, I believe the networks have the best chance of acculmulating decent traffic early doors which may propell them into the lead.
The one certain thing is that France is definitley worth watching becausethe fight that is being fought now will be happening in territories all over the world in the coming few years. Other governments will not be able to resist the opportunity of another income stream but, need to be careful not to take too much out of the poker ecosystem and bring the game in their country to a premature end.
