France’s gambling regulator has fined an unnamed online operator €500,000 after finding serious failings in how it identified and supported players showing signs of excessive or pathological gambling. The case covered 30 players and examined activity from 1 October 2023 to 31 March 2024.
InterGameOnline reported that the operator’s brand was not disclosed. The Sanctions Committee said the firm failed to meet its obligations to identify and support problem gamblers, and it judged the penalty appropriate because of the seriousness, impact and duration of the breaches.
The committee relied on seven warning signs, including deposit frequency, a high number of lost deposits, play frequency, a high number of bets, changes to the legal gambling moderators, self-exclusion use and the number of accounts opened with the operator during the period. It found that for almost all players in the sample, the company had failed its identification duty.
Some players were not identified as posing a risk at all. Others were assigned an insufficient risk level based on their gambling behaviour.
The committee also said the operator had failed to apply graduated, proportionate support measures aimed at curbing gambling. That duty sits at the heart of ANJ’s online-gambling guidance, which cites article 34 of law n° 2010-476 and says operators must identify excessive or pathological gamblers and help them moderate their play.
The same guide says identification should begin with observable signs of risk, not only the most obvious cases. It also warns against limiting attention to “big players”, because intensive play does not automatically mean addiction.
Operators can use two broad methods to spot warning signs online: analysis of player data and direct exchanges with players or relatives through customer service. The guide also says automated algorithms should draw on several indicators, run often enough and produce useful results, and that strong signals should be checked by humans before action is taken.
A French report on lescasinos.org said the sanctions commission met on 30 June 2026 to review the case. It said the commission confirmed the breaches and imposed the €500,000 sanction, and that the decision may be appealed to the Conseil d’Etat within two months of notification.
The wider regulatory backdrop is one of growing concern about excessive gambling in France. Sud Ouest reported that ANJ has been developing an AI-based algorithm since 2024 to help detect excessive gamblers, using 23 indicators drawn from account activity over six months and assigning players to four categories of risk.
That report said the regulator counted more than 600,000 players, or 8.7% of the player base, as highly likely to gamble excessively, while operators identified only 90,000 in 2025. It also said those excessive players generated €1.2 billion in gross gaming product, or 60% of the total.
In a 2024 assessment, iGamingBusiness said ANJ had seen progress in prevention but said the problem remained too widespread. It said the regulator had highlighted a 2024-2026 strategic plan focused on reducing excessive gambling and protecting minors, and had urged operators to improve identification and support measures.
