The French gambling regulatory body, ANJ, announced that its new algorithm suggests that a staggering 60% of France’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) comes from risky players. As a result, the ANJ decided to make its algorithm available, allowing operators to use it as a benchmark to check if their safer gaming solutions are sufficient.
ANJ Created Algorithm to Identify At-Risk Players
The ANJ, which has highlighted the reduction of problem gambling as one of its core objectives, highlighted the concerning results of a new probe, which suggests that more than half of the country’s GGR comes from problem gamblers.
The ANJ previously highlighted improvements in the detection of problem gambling, as operators identified 89,000 such players in 2025, up from 31,000 in the prior year. However, this figure did not convince the ANJ, suggesting a lack of effectiveness in the efforts to identify problem players.
As a result, the ANJ developed its own algorithm to identify at-risk players, using official online operator data, as well as FDJ and PMU data. This new tool seeks to help operators remain compliant while allowing the ANJ to “objectively assess the efforts required of operators” in terms of spotting problem gamblers. The new tool also aims to reduce the GGR generated by harmed individuals.
The Initial Results Are Disconcerting
While the ANJ emphasized that its algorithm is not designed to measure the exact number of problem gamblers, it is still a solution that seeks to provide a broader understanding of the prevalence of this issue. The ANJ added that the algorithm’s performance has been validated and measured using the Canadian Problem Gambling Index (CPGI), under the supervision of a committee of experts.
It uses 23 risk indicators to divide players into four categories, as follows:
- Recreational players
- Moderate-risk players
- Excessive players
- Clearly excessive players
As it turns out, the initial results yielded by the algorithm are quite worrying. In the second half of 2025 alone, it identified a staggering 600,000 players who are very likely to be problem players. Half of them were clearly excessive players, while the rest are very likely to be ones.
While the ANJ acknowledged that the increase in the number of problem players is partially due to the growing popularity of gambling and the expansion of the local market, it said that “this does not explain everything,” as the number of problem players seems to grow at a faster pace than the total number of players.
To make matters worse, the algorithm suggested that 60% (EUR 1.2 billion) of France’s total GGR came from problem players.
Operators Can Integrate the Algorithm into Their Platforms
The ANJ said that its new algorithm is an optional tool that is now available to operators, allowing them to benchmark the effectiveness of their own problem gambling identification measures. The ANJ added that the algorithm can be used alongside existing algorithms and tools.
The ANJ will meanwhile use the algorithm to identify the clearly excessive players and work toward identifying the possibly risky ones.
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, ANJ’s chair, commented on the matter, calling the release of the algorithm to operators a “decisive step” for gaming regulation in France.
In addition to survey data, the algorithm helps to objectively assess the efforts required to identify problem gamblers, whom operators must take immediate action support. Finally, it appears necessary for this identification process to be carried out at points of sale as well, an objective we have been calling on the two monopolies to pursue since 2024.
Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, chair, ANJ
In other news, France recently became the next European country to condemn the growing prediction markets sector.
