Official language: French
Population: 65,073,482
Currency: Euro (EUR)

Current Exchange Rate
1 GBP = 1.0681 EUR
1 USD = 0.6754 EUR

Poker in France
Poker is a very fashionable game throughout France. In fact, poker as it is played around the world uses a 52-card deck of French cards which, appropriately enough, originated in France. Even though France is not the birthplace of the game, its popularity in the country grows every year. The country is famous for its poker rooms, but is probably better known for its tournaments.

French poker tournaments are extremely popular, and all poker enthusiasts look forward to them. France's top poker room, called the Aviation Club, each year conducts the World Poker Tour. Every year that the event is held, the number of participants nearly doubles. Another famous tournament, the French Open, takes place at the Casino Barrier de Deauville. This tour is particularly special because players can win buy-ins with online qualifier events. The international megasite PokerStars holds small events before the French Open poker tournament each year, offering winners a package worth $9000 that includes the buy-in plus accommodation and expenses.

Online Poker in France
Online poker in France has enjoyed popularity since the beginning, but in recent years, it has been becoming increasingly popular. Part of this is fueled by the same thing that has caused a poker boom in many European countries: televised poker. Seeing poker played on TV makes others want to learn the game. Also, the smoking ban recently put in place is driving many players from the poker rooms to their own homes where they can smoke and play online poker in peace.

With recent changes to French gambling law, Internet poker in France is now currently legal at government-approved websites as well as some France-based online poker rooms. French players still use international sites hosted in other countries as well, as today French-language services are nearly universally available.