Two more poker operators exit France
Poker Leaders was unable to launch after receiving its licence earlier this year " Winga also sees licence repealed by ARJEL.
French regulator ARJEL has repealed the licences of two more operators as the country’s online poker market continues to shrink.
One of the two, Poker Leaders, had not managed to launch in the months since being awarded an operating licence in February, although president Olivier Douce said in June that the company has been the “victim of defection” adding that “It is out of the question for us to give up and… we are actively working to find new solutions.”
Its parent company Xorti, which also holds a Malta licence, had signed up with GTECH G2 for the software provider’s poker and casino products in November last year in a deal which also covered the SpinWinners brand.
The second licensee to see its accreditation revoked is Winga, which launched its dot.fr offering in January 2011, shortly after joining Playtech’s Italian casino platform. Parent company Buongiorno was subject to a £187m takeover bid from NTT DOCOMO which saw the Japanese company acquire a 97% stake in August, however it is not known whether this was the main reason for its withdrawal of the Winga brand from the French market.
The news continues a trend of smaller poker operators leaving the challenging French market, where Winamax and PokerStars are dominant. Chilipoker, TitanPoker and Snai are among the brands to exit.
Two others, MyPok and PokerXtrem, merged earlier this year with the combined entity launching on the Partouche Poker Network under the MyPok brand.