New algorithm developed by the ANJ reveals a ‘worrying and growing number of excessive French gamblers’

ANJ suggests 600,000 French players have a high probability of excessive gambling

With recent research highlighting 600,000 players who have a high probability of excessive gambling, the French gambling authority ANJ (Autorité Nationale des Jeux) has placed the reduction of excessive or pathological gambling at the heart of the regulation of the sector and its expectations of gambling operators.

It has therefore asked all market players to respect their legal obligation to identify and support by identifying more excessive gamblers, in line with the size of their player pool, and to better support them. This support can take various forms such as phone calls, proposals for the implementation of moderators or adapted game limitations, contact with associations or care centers, or even the closure of player accounts, etc.

At its annual review of the “Prevention of Excessive or Pathological Gambling” action plans, the ANJ noted that there was dramatic progress in the identification of online excessive or pathological gamblers. This resulted in the number of identified players tripling between 2024 and 2025, from 31,000 to 89,000 excessive players identified by operators.

However, this number remains inconsistent with the size of the operators’ pool of players and prevalence studies, leading the ANJ to ask them to identify even more excessive players, by strengthening their systems.

However, this algorithm is not intended to measure the exact number of excessive gamblers or to estimate the prevalence of excessive gambling in the same way as barometric surveys in the general population.

The ANJ has all the game data made online from a player account held with an approved operator or with FDJ and PMU. This data is transmitted to it continuously by the operators, in order to enable it to carry out its missions.

It is from this pool of data that the algorithm was designed from 2024 as well as on scientific literature. In 2025, the ANJ presented this algorithm to operators and organised a consultation.

The algorithm uses 23 risk indicators or criteria to obtain a unique score for each player. These indicators relate to financial movements, game moderators, gambling activity and frequency, and the player’s history.

Depending on the score, players are divided into four categories: recreational player, moderate risk player, excessive player and obviously excessive player.

The performance of the algorithm has been validated and measured against the ICJE (Canadian Index of Excessive Gambling), under the control of a scientific committee composed of recognized researchers[1].

While similar initiatives are underway in other countries such as Spain or the Netherlands, the ANJ algorithm is the first available in Europe.

The first estimates show an upward trend in the number of excessive gamblers, which is growing faster than the number of gamblers.

In the second half of 2025, the algorithm identified 600,000 players who have a high probability of being excessive, or 8.7 per cent of the total population of account players. Of these players, 300,000 are so obvious that their identification by the operators is imperative.

While the trend increase in this number since 2023 is likely due to the overall growth of the market, it does not explain everything because the number of excessive gamers has increased faster than the number of gamers. Excessive gamblers generated €1.2bn in GGR, or 60 per cent per cent of total GGR, a proportion that has been steadily increasing since 2023.

The ANJ expects operators to identify manifestly excessive gamblers in the short term (around 300,000), and to work to detect the entire population of excessive gamblers as it appears via the algorithm (around 600,000).

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, President of the ANJ said: “The finalisation of this algorithm and its availability to operators is a decisive step for the regulator. This testifies to its ability to design an innovative and efficient tool, designed as close as possible to the reality of online players’ practices. In addition to barometric studies, the algorithm makes it possible to objectify the effort to identify excessive gamblers, which operators must pursue without delay. Finally, it seems necessary that this identification can also be carried out at points of sale, an objective that we have been asking the two monopolies to pursue since 2024. »