French strike at online poker

The head of the famous French Groupe Partouche, which owns some 50 or more land casinos and operates Partouche Interactive has reportedly been handed stiff fines and suspended jail punishments by a French Court this week.

The French media is reporting that Patrick Partouche was given a 12-month suspended sentence and a Euro 40 000 fine yesterday for his involvement with online poker site Poker770.com.

Partouche International, a subsidiary of the group based in Belgium, was also fined Euro 150 000 for its online gaming activities targeting French players, according to e-Gaming Review.

Two other as yet unidentified men involved with Poker 770 were additionally fined Euro 40 000 with similar suspended sentences by the court in Nanterre in the Paris suburbs. All three have appealed.

The French state's protectionist activities in regard to its gambling monopoly are becoming increasingly aggressive with the arrest of bwin executives last year, moves against foreign companies sponsoring French football and requests for "interviews" with online gambling executives based outside France.

Poker770.com is a multilingual site that is believed to operate on Playtech's iPoker Network, and is managed by a Cyprus-registered firm called Chicoutimi Management Limited for Partouche. The site offers Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo with a good range of Tournaments, Sit'n Go games, Satellites and Head-to-Heads, mainly in Holdem poker and with a choice of betting currencies that includes Euro, Dollar and Sterling. Tournament traffic has been reported to exceed 12 000 concurrent players during peak play periods.