French player returns uncompetitive says Mangas boss

Mangas Gaming chief executive Nicolas Beraud has called for the French authorities to increase what it currently allows to pay back to players, as the current 85% limit is failing in its publicly declared aim of protecting the consumer.

Speaking yesterday on the Online Sports & Horse Betting Markets panel at France’s first ever egaming conference, Monaco iGaming Exchanges, Beraud said: “Today, we cannot give better than an 85% return to the player, which means the odds are not competitive compared to other markets. It is an incentive for players to try to play on foreign websites, and the customers can lose their money much more quickly than previously.

“The excuse to have this 85% was to protect the consumer, but what we are seeing is the customer is instead losing his money more quickly and is actually playing more.”

Speaking on the same panel, Emmanuel de Rohan Chabot, chief executive of horse racing tote operator ZEturf observed of current tax and payback conditions that if “there wasn’t such a difference in pressure between the legal and illegal worlds, it would not be so hard to keep the punter inside the French market, and it is a hard job.”

Chabot told the audience: “In between the ZEturf.com and the ZEturf.fr we are on now, the average punter is losing €110 a month when he used to lose just €60 a month. The objective of reducing gaming addiction and risk is clearly a failure on that point, so I am completely with Nicolas on that one.”

The head of international development for France’s former PMU horse racing monopoly, Aymeric Verlet, argued that it was not a change of tax or payback conditions that was needed but a clampdown on “illegal” operators. “If illegal operators are controlled and are sanctioned, then we can live with the level of taxation. It is important punters cannot be playing on other foreign operators’ sites.”

All the panellists, however, were united in their praise of the French government for moving towards regulation. De Rohan Chabot said: “The thought was made to open the market, and in France there was very strong resistance to that, so passing through hard times is maybe the price to pay.”

Chilipoker’s chief executive Alex Dreyfus, speaking later on the Online Poker Market roundtable, agreed with the earlier panel that “the industry is happy about regulation” but that conditions needed adjusting. “We want to offer casino. We want to improve taxation which is more or less 40% of the revenue which is very painful. There is a lot of adjustment to be done. But at least it’s there, we can promote, invest and build brands.”

New Dragonfish MD David Zerah added: “If there is anything to learn from France, on the tax level, it has gone a bit too far. It’s now a tough sell to the moneymen in any organisation to invest [here].”

Mangas Gaming’s chief marketing officer Tarquin Henderson argued that regulating governments also needed to consider consumer experience if they were to realise the benefits in full. “At the end of the day, the customer will choose. If it’s too complicated, too expensive and there are too many barriers to play, they will stop playing or find a way of not playing in regulated markets. So it’s up to regulators to keep this sensible balance between customer choice and protection. The coutnries that go too far either way will suffer”, he added.