It's now official: Parisian gaming clubs will be able to reopen. A victim of the change of government, Paris' 7 gaming clubs were forced to close their doors on January 1, 2025. The publication of the implementing decree in the Journal Officiel is still pending, while the Gaming Establishments Consultative Commission is due to meet on Friday to validate the authorizations essential for the reopening, the Barrière group told AFP.
The seven Parisian gaming clubs had been forced to cease operations at the start of the year, due to the lack of a clear legislative framework. Experimented with in the capital since 2018, these establishments were due to benefit from an extension of their authorization until the end of 2025 via the Finance Act. However, a legal loophole caused by government censorship led to their temporary closure.
The situation was unblocked with the passage of the 2025 Finance Act, which extended the experiment for a further three years, until the end of 2027. However, before they are actually reopened, an implementing decree has yet to be published in the Journal Officiel, and the Gaming Establishments Advisory Commission is due to give the go-ahead this Friday. According to the Barrière Group, owner of a gaming club in Paris, the establishments could welcome back their customers as early as this weekend.
"We're delighted with the Conseil d'Etat's validation, which means we'll very likely be able to reopen before the weekend. It's a relief for our customers and our 200 employees", said Clément Martin Saint-Léon, General Manager of the Barrière Group.
The forced closure of the clubs had plunged the sector into a critical situation, putting 1,500 employees out of work and resulting in an estimated loss of revenue of four million euros in contributions not collected by the State. "We urgently needed to get out of this predicament," stresses Fabrice Paire, Chairman of the Board of Groupe Partouche, which also owns a gaming club in Paris.
The closure had also encouraged the development of underground parties. This is yet another argument in favor of the continued existence of these establishments. The Minister of the Interior is said to have taken these demands on board, and is planning to relaunch a bill to regulate these clubs once and for all.
Unlike casinos, which are banned in Paris and within a 100 km radius except for Enghien-les-Bains, gaming clubs only offer table games such as poker, blackjack and bingo. Slot machines and roulettes are excluded, the latter being the most profitable for casino operators.
To ensure their long-term survival, some groups are planning to expand their offer. Partouche plans to expand its current club, located near the Place de l'Étoile, to host poker tournaments from the end of 2025.
The reopening of gaming clubs is therefore a breath of fresh air for the sector, but it also reveals the regulatory uncertainties weighing on this business, as it awaits definitive stabilization of its legal framework.
