French Gambling Addict Suing French Government

French Gambling Addict Suing French Government

Thirty-seven-year-old French problem gambler is suing the government of France for €100K (about $132K in $US) for failing to prevent him from playing online poker, according to his lawyer.

The defendant registered with the interior ministry in the city of Reims last year, voluntarily banning himself from Internet gambling sites and casinos. His lawyer, Emmanuel Ludot, says he was still permitted access to them.

Ludot said, “It’s all well and good to moralise about online games but we all know that they rely on the addiction and sickness of players.”

Ludot explained that his client, who was unnamed, was registered by the ministry under the wrong address, and he was therefore still allowed to play at online gambling sites.

The interior ministry denied comment due to legal proceedings that are currently active.

French gambling law allows gambling addicts to register themselves with the ministry in order to ban their access to online gambling websites, and the sites must then check with this ban list prior to allowing players to play online at their sites for real money. Already, the list has roughly 36,000 players registered who have self-banned themselves from online gambling.