Q1-2015 stats from French regulator ARJEL continued to paint a disappointing picture of French online poker when released this week, reporting that average active weekly player numbers fell 6 percent to 246,000, down from a peak of 300,000 active players in 2011.
* Gross gaming revenue for online poker declined 7 percent to Euro 61 million;
* Cash game spend fell 15 percent to Euro 1 billion despite increases in fees on the tournament sector.
By contrast, sports betting online revenue was up 3 percent to Euro 190 million.
Increased poker player liquidity through pacts with other regulated poker markets in Europe such as Italy and Spain could be the solution, but this has yet to be achieved despite two years of discussions between regulators in the relevant nations.