France has long been a bastion of poker in mainland Europe –which makes sense when you consider that elements of the game originated in France, in the form of a bluffing game named Poque—and France is also home to one of the world’s largest online poker rooms Everest Poker. France is also one of the few countries that have passed laws that both legalize and regulate the online poker industry within the country.

With online poker rooms requiring a license to operate inside France it’s imperative that you play on a licensed poker room, and not some fly-by-night operation that is looking to take your money. But which online poker room should you choose? This question is why we have developed the following list of the best online poker rooms in France.

Best Poker Rooms in France

#1 French Poker Room – Everest Poker

Everest Poker (www.everestpoker.fr) is an obvious choice for as the best of French poker sites, considering the online poker room is based in France, and has been since its inception. In fact, Everest Poker is the only online poker room licensed by the French government that has a larger player pool on its French site than their global parent site! French players have trusted Everest Poker for years now, and the site has proven to be one of the most player-friendly in all of online poker.

Another reason French poker players love Everest Poker is that the online poker room offers one of the most unique deposit bonuses in online poker; a $200 deposit bonus regardless of the size of your initial deposit! Simply deposit a minimum of $10 on Everest Poker and you will receive $200 in bonus money, no questions asked. To take advantage of this incredible offer, simply follow the link provided on this page.

Everest Poker offers a number of deposit options for French players to fund their online poker accounts, some of the more popular choices include Neteller, Visa, MasterCard, Moneybookers, Click2Pay, Paysafe card, bank draft, ECO Card and 1PAY.

#2 French Poker Room – Party Poker

Party Poker (www.partypoker.fr) was one of the first online poker rooms to apply for a French gaming license when the country enacted its online poker legislation, which allowed Party Poker to continue its strong presence in France. As one of the original online poker sites, Party Poker has the experience, reputation, and player base to meet any poker player’s needs ensuring it’s place on our list of the best French poker sites.

Party Poker is currently offering a 100% up to $500 deposit bonus to first-time players on the site. Despite being smaller than other French poker rooms, this deposit bonus is very easy to clear, and is basically free-money. You can claim this deposit bonus by following the link to Party Poker we have provided on this page.

Party Poker gives players more deposit options than virtually any online poker room, so French players will have no trouble funding their Party Poker account. The deposit options available on Party Poker are VISA, MasterCard, Paysafe card, eps, WebMoney, Bancontact Mister Cash, iDeal, Laser card, Click & Buy, Click2Pay, Giro pay, ukash, Przleway24, DirectPay24, my citadel wallet, Poli, eWire, ELV, Electronic Transfer, UsemyBank, Switch/Solo/Maestro, Moneybookers, EntroPay, Neteller, bank wire transfer, and bank transfer.

#3 French Poker Room – Pokerstars

Pokerstars (www.pokerstars.fr) is a long-standing online poker room with an excellent reputation throughout the poker world. With a strong online poker operation Pokerstars.fr is known for its incredibly loose poker games, and its large player base makes it easy to find players that are willing to gamble at the virtual felt.

Pokerstars is now offering French poker players the chance to cash in with a huge first-time depositor’s bonus that now conveys a 100% up to $600 deposit bonus to any French poker player making their first deposit. You can claim this bonus by following the link we have provided on this page.

Stars accepts a number of different options for players to use to fund their online poker account. Among the many deposit options French poker players have at the site are: Visa, Mastercard, Maestro, Visa Electron, Laser, Cheque, Bank Wire, Moneybookers, MoneyTT, EntroPay, Click2Pay, Instadebit and Neteller.

Why are there French-only Poker Sites?

Recently, legislation was passed to legalize and regulate the online poker industry in France. This meant that French poker players were only allowed to play on the sites of operators based in France and furthermore, a 2% government tax was imposed on all ring game pots and tournament prize pools.

The result was that many of the big online poker rooms, such as Pokerstars and Party Poker set up French versions of their clients specifically for French players to play on, and excluded from their main client in line with the legislation.

Is it Legal to Play on French Poker Sites?

Players outside of the European Union are not permitted to play on French sites. However, due to EU competition laws, players based in any EU country are legally allowed to play on the French poker clients, once they follow the validation procedure which all of the sites employ. This is quite an attractive opportunity for many players as French poker has a reputation for having a much higher fish to shark ratio than is seen in other countries, and so the opportunity to join these games represents a good chance to make some easy money.

Traffic at the French sites is growing consistently and pokerstars.fr and winamax.fr have comparable traffic to some of the smaller networks like Microgaming and Entraction. In the case of Everest Poker, their French client has outgrown the old .com client.

How Does the Rake on French Sites Compare with Others?
The downside to the undoubtedly softer games on the French sites is the increased rake and taxes. Due to the lower traffic, sites are forced to charge a higher rate of rake to cover their operating costs. They are also obliged to collect the 2% government tax from each ring game pot or tournament entry fee. The result is that the average rake you will pay for example on PokerStars.fr at 100nl is 50% larger than that at PokerStars.com. The French site with the rake structure closest to other poker rooms is Winamax.

Steps Required to Play on French Sites

In order to be allowed to play real money games on any of the French poker sites, players must first scan a copy of their national identification card or passport, along with a recent bank statement and email to the site which they want to play on. Once this information is verified, the site will send out a verification code to the provided address, which must match that on the scanned bank statement. As soon as the site have verified the ID and bank statement the player will be allowed to participate in real money games, however if the verification code is not entered with a certain time frame (typically 30 days) then the account will be suspended until such time as the verification code is entered.

All of the sites are very strict on players having a valid European bank account and the only cashout method available on the French sites is a direct bank transfer via the player’s registered bank account

Online Poker Legality and Restrictions for French Poker Players

French online poker laws closely resemble those of Italy. In order for an online poker site to be eligible for an online gaming license from the French Government they must operate inside of France, and only offer their games to French residents. Fortunately for French poker players their player base is a bit larger than it is in Italy, but still far below the global networks. Additionally, with taxation and licensing fees French poker rooms might have an increased rake, or fewer promotions than their larger parent sites.

Virtually all online poker sites operating in France are mirror sites, set-up just for French players –PartyPoker.fr is a mirror site of PartyPoker.com for instance—which allows them to operate legally inside France. As you can see, in many cases legalized online poker can be a bit of a double-edge sword, after all not every country is as open to gambling as the United Kingdom!

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