French poker law risks putting players and operators off, Chili Poker chief says.

Online poker operators are lobbying the government to review its proposed 2% tax on player stakes and allow for French players to compete against players from other countries, Chili Poker chief executive Alexandre Dreyfus has told eGaming Review.

Dreyfus said the proposed legislation, which is due to be enacted in January next year, ran the risk of putting players off the game of poker.

Dreyfus said: “The devil is in the detail. Whereas an operator will take between 2% and 5% rake on a pot, a 2% tax on stakes means players will be taxed every time they place a bet. The authorities thought 2% was reasonable. But that presupposes players betting a few hands every hour, when in fact online players play on average 50 hands an hour and more than one table at a time. Under such a regime, their money would go even quicker.”

This would mean players not being interested in improving their poker skills and the parameters around the game being drastically altered, he argued.

Dreyfus added that numerous French high rollers and poker personalities had told operators they would relocate or play on unlicensed sites should the current legislation pass.

“If those players stop playing and we can’t sponsor them, we are losing major marketing and promotional tools and will find it that much harder to attract players,” Dreyfus said.

Operators and stakeholders were also lobbying the government to try and change the French-only system being proposed and take in liquidity from other countries.

“We are hopeful our actions will have positive results and they will see the actions of the Italian authorities over the past two years as a sign of how the working environment can be improved for all stakeholders,” Dreyfus said.

Source: egaming review

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