The French Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industry, has got a few poker players in France excited, after he suggested that he might support ARJEL’s proposals to open up player liquidity to other European markets.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel for French poker?

Let’s hope so.

It’s getting pretty dark in there.

It’s been a terrible time. The final financial quarter of 2014 saw a decline of €17.3 million in French online poker revenue. Whilst there is a slight upturn in tournament interest (€6.5m increase in Q4), cash game numbers have been falling with the rapid rate of blind lemmings taking a summer stroll along a cliff (down €23.8m in Q4).

It’s not just online poker that’s taking a beating. Live poker is also getting its ass whipped pretty badly. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) decided that the Germans would create a better European series than the French by hauling their product from Paris to Berlin. The European Poker Tour (EPT) decided that Deauville would no longer be a part of their plans; and the World Poker Tour (WPT) also stopped visiting the Aviation Club de France (ACF) a year before the French authorities placed the card room into liquidation.

The net result is a lack of fish. The sharks have buggered off. The rest of the world have opened their arms and welcomed French online poker players with a peck on both cheeks.