{"id":5058,"date":"2020-06-26T12:02:30","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T12:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2020-10-09T15:06:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-09T15:06:37","slug":"issembert-on-titan-fr-french-gaming-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/gambling-news\/2010-12\/titanfr-ceo-speaks-about-arjel-and-first-week-in-french-gaming-market-211220101000.php","title":{"rendered":"Issembert on Titan.fr & French Gaming Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Just one week ago, Titan.fr went live in the newly regulated French online gaming market with its ARJEL approved poker site. This morning, The Nation Traffic SAS (Titan.fr operator) reported that the number of visitors to the site thus far has exceeded expectations.<\/p>\n

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We sat down for an exclusive interview with The Nation Traffic SAS CEO, Benjamin Issembert, and asked him about his thoughts on the French gaming market, the future of Titan.fr and what it means to be a gentleman doing business in what many deem a rogue industry.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0What is the history of the French gaming Market?<\/i><\/b>
\nA: For almost ten years, eGambling Operators conducted business in France illegally. Not illegally, exactly, but in a sort of \u201cWild West\u201d where there were no clear rules. It was a grey market. Since June 2010, the market has been black or white. As to Titan Gaming\u2019s history with France, we aimed to follow the rules required to participate in the newly regulated market.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0And what did or does that mean?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0On June 11, we shut down operations in the French market in order to apply for a license. At the end of August, we applied for both a poker and a sports betting license under the operator name the Nation Traffic SAS. On November 18, we were granted a poker license.<\/p>\n

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Q: \u00a0Five months to get the license. You must have suffered tremendous profit loss during the application process. How did you feel when your competitors received licenses before you?
\n<\/i><\/b>A:\u00a0<\/i><\/b>Five months is a long time but we preferred to focus on playing by the rules and the good that would come from that. In terms of getting into the legal market later than competitors, in fact it served us well. We were patient. We didn\u2019t rush. Instead, we researched and investigated the specific needs of French players and the compliance issues involved in obtaining a French gaming license from ARJEL. By arriving a little bit later to the market, we were able to learn from the mistakes of our competitors.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0And what were those mistakes?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0I cannot answer that question as it is phrased because it would require me to speak ill of our competitors, who are also friends.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0And you won\u2019t do that?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0I might think it, but no, I won\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0A gentleman. Who says the gambling industry is lurid? Ok, then, let me rephrase the question: What did you learn?
\n<\/i><\/b>A:\u00a0We learned that it will now be much more challenging to make a profit in the French market. We learned that offline campaigns are not that profitable because of taxes and low ROI (Return on Investment). First and foremost, we learned that we must stick to what we know and what we do well \u2013 online gaming marketing which includes a lot of \u201csavoir-faire.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0Why the focus on the French market?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0To speak plainly, it is the most interesting market. The French are not gamblers in the way that most people define gamblers. But they love poker and sports. There is a rich history of betting there that dates back several hundred years. There are more than 90 land-based casinos in France. It is a popular and dignified pastime.<\/p>\n


\nQ:\u00a0What are ARJEL\u2019s requirements for obtaining a French license?
\n<\/i><\/b>A:\u00a0To start, sites must operate as a European or French company. They must be compliant with French law and ensure that players will be protected.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0How does Titan ensure that players are protected?
\n<\/i><\/b>A: \u00a0There are several ways but the two most relevant involve site transparency and the prevention of gambling addiction. Transparency results from the player\u2019s ability to contact operators directly. \u00a0To this end, our operations are based in France. To prevent gambling addiction, we\u2019ve incorporated several features on our site. All pages have banners that forward players in need to a single page that instructs them on getting help. We also remind players on every page of each bet placed within the session. We cooperate with French Authorities so that players may forbid themselves from betting, and we require players to set deposit and bet limits, as well as to specify an auto-withdrawal amount.<\/p>\n


\nQ:\u00a0Despite the ways in which it makes your job harder, do you think the move to licensing and regulation of the online gambling market is a good one?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0Yes in some ways and no in others. Industry regulation is important whether one is developing safety guidelines for air travel or determining which sparkling wines actually get to call themselves Champagne<\/i>.\u00a0Not all regulations save lives, but certainly standards must be set. From another angle, one might say regulation makes doing business very difficult. Taxes for licensed sites are astronomical and it is difficult to make profit. French players have also lost something really important – international liquidity. Following regulation, French players can only play with and against other French players.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0What future do you predict for Titan and the French market in general?
\n<\/i><\/b>A:\u00a0In terms of the market, the future is bright. I foresee rapid expansion in the coming year. Regarding Titan.fr, we intend to offer the best and most comfortable online poker site and sports book there is.\u00a0 We will continue to listen to our players and to build our product and our website to suit what the players say they want and need. And we will continue to provide French players the best entertainment value and experience.<\/p>\n

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Q:\u00a0Any parting words for our readers?<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0Yes. Returning players will have to re-open their accounts, but we have prepared a very nice surprise for our previous and new players. And it\u2019s big.<\/div>\n

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Q:\u00a0A gentleman and a salesman.<\/i><\/b>
\nA:\u00a0No. Mannered and market-conscious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

*Interview has been condensed and edited.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Just one week ago, Titan.fr went live in the newly regulated French online gaming market with its ARJEL approved poker site. This morning, The Nation Traffic SAS (Titan.fr operator) reported that the number of visitors to the site thus far has exceeded expectations.   We sat down for an exclusive interview with The Nation Traffic … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":5058},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5058\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gamblingcity.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}