Française des Jeux launches parionsweb.fr and goes online

FDJ has set up a new regulation devised specially for this purpose, which was issued on November 3rd in the Official French Gazette. It has launched parionsweb.fr, a new website which, together with the site fdjeux.com, will enable web surfers to play legally as opposed to what is happening with sports betting sites which are still illegal until the future law on the opening of the gambling market to competition comes into force. Two weeks ago, parionsweb.fr was still unavailable.

According to the CBNews letter, the new FDJ site has been designed and created by Kassius, its agency, and positions itself as the player’s guide and offers an array of tools and contents: statistics, a Web TV, a Web radio in partnership with RTL, a glossary, live scores, Multimatchs up to 5 live matches… The FDJ provides a team of experts (Basil Boli, Lionel Rousseau, Karl Olive…) in order to help Internet surfers to make better bets…and thus to have more chances of winning. This positioning is supported by the new signature: "Bet better to win better. In the first place, this new paying offer enables bets to be made on football, rugby, basketball and on 150 bets per week."

The FDJ regulation includes not less than 11 pages to itemize the fixed-odds betting offer. It can be gathered that the various formulas proposed will be quite similar to the ones included in the decrees of the future law. Thus, it will be possible to bet on the winner of a match, on a victory with a handicap of X goals, forecast the score at half-time, or at the end of a quarter for basketball. It will also be possible to associate half-time and end of match, and bet on whether the total number of goals at the end of a match will be even or odd. If football, basket and rugby are expressly mentioned, other sports aren’t. But tennis also seems well fitted for the betting formula “Winner of competition” which consists in forecasting the winner of an individual or team sporting event.

Multiple combinations can be made, the most important one being the Goliath, representing 247 combinations, that is 247 euros for an initial bet of one euro. "The amount of the base bet must range between 0.50 euro and 3 000 euros (...) The amount of the base bet can be defined up to the euro cent, to the player’s choice”.

According to the provisions of the “General gambling regulations of Française des jeux accessible via internet and via mobile phone”, the total amount of a game plan is limited to the amount of available funds in the FDJ account of the player and reaches the limit of 3,000 euros. If the total amount of the player’s game plan is higher than the latter’s available funds in his FDJ account or is more than 3,000 euros, the game plan is refused", it is specified in the regulation.

On the other hand, Article 6 indicates the conditions to cancel bets. It must be noted that the FDJ does not take risks and does not play at loss since “game plans on forecasts made on fixed-odds bets can be blocked anytime by La Française des jeux when the winnings which would have to be paid for these game plans - if the said forecast appears to be exact - become higher than the total amount of bets recorded by the players betting on several forecasts of the said fixed-odds betting".

Game plans can also be refused in the following cases: if the total amount of bets recorded on a combination for all the players is higher or equal to 10,000 euros; if the total sum of potential winnings of players on a combination are higher or equal to 20,000 euros; if the total amount of bets recorded on a bet, all combinations taken together, is higher or equal to 25,000 euros or if the total amount of potential winnings on a bet, all combinations taken together, is higher or equal to 50,000 euros.

For each Internet player, game plans can be refused by the Française des jeux in the following cases:the total amount of potential winnings on a bet forecast, for all the player’s game plans, after subtracting the amount of money the said player bet, is higher or equal to 100,000 euros; the total amount of a player’s bets on a gambling forecast is higher or equal to 1,000 euros, whether this sum is added over one or several combinations linked with this forecast, and through one or several game plans.

Game plans can be refused if the total amount of the players’ potential winnings is higher or equal to the sum of 76,225,000 euros. Finally, "in cases of fraud or suspicion of fraud regarding a sporting event, game plans are interrupted. In virtue of the saying “fraud corrupts everything, the Française des Jeux reserves the right to cancel the corresponding bet.”