Betting in France as a British expat
France has Europe’s most locked-down legal betting market and, since May 2026, one genuinely big piece of news for British expats: bet365 is finally here. Just don’t expect the odds you remember.
Updated August 2026
The short version. Online sports betting is legal in France with ANJ-licensed operators only; online casino remains illegal entirely. Your UK accounts will not work and do not migrate. bet365 launched a separate French platform, bet365.fr, in May 2026, joining Betclic, Winamax and Unibet.fr. Registration needs French ID checks and a French bank RIB, and French taxes make every book’s odds noticeably worse than the UK.
What happens to your UK accounts
UK bookmakers pulled out of or geo-block France years ago. William Hill lists France as a no-access country, Sky Bet blocks it, Ladbrokes holds no French licence. Whatever balance you hold in the UK, withdraw it before the move. There is no transfer mechanism to any French platform.
The 2026 change: bet365.fr
The ANJ approved bet365’s French sports betting licence in April 2026 and the site went live on 26 May 2026, in time for the World Cup. It is a separate French platform under French rules: a fresh registration with French KYC, sports betting only, no casino products. Your UK bet365 login means nothing to it, but for expats who grew up on the brand, the familiar app finally being legal in France matters.
The licensed field
Around 16 books hold ANJ sports licences. The ones that matter: Betclic (the market leader), Winamax, Unibet.fr, bet365.fr, ParionsSport En Ligne (the FDJ brand) and PMU. In-play betting is legal in France, unlike some countries Brits move to.
Registering as a foreigner
Foreign residents can register with valid ID plus a French RIB, the bank details slip from a French account. Accounts start provisional: you can deposit and bet but not withdraw until your identity is validated, historically by a posted code, though bet365.fr has been validating within hours. You will also be asked to set weekly deposit and wagering limits at signup; raising them later takes 48 hours.
Why French odds hurt
France taxes online sports betting at roughly 59% of gross gaming revenue after the July 2025 increases, plus a 15% sport contribution, and caps the average amount operators may return to players at 85 cents per euro staked. Regulators have fined Betclic, Winamax and Unibet for exceeding that cap during the 2022 World Cup, which tells you it binds. In practice a match priced 1.95/1.95 in the UK often shows up around 1.80/1.80 in France. That is not your book being greedy; it is the law. It also means line-shopping between French books matters more, not less.
Offshore sites
The ANJ maintains a public blacklist of around 4,800 blocked URLs and adds to it continuously; well-known Curacao books have sat on it for years. French law targets the operator rather than the bettor, but an unlicensed site offers a French resident no consumer protection, no access to the French complaint and self-exclusion framework, and a domain that can disappear mid-withdrawal. The legal market is restrictive but real; use it.
Not in France? See which bookmakers accept British expats where you actually live, vetted for licence and payout record.
See the vetted bookmakersThis page contains no paid placements and no affiliate links; every bookmaker named here is included on merit. Some links elsewhere on this site are affiliate links: how this site is funded. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice; gambling law depends on your country of residence and changes. Updated August 2026.