Legal casino gambling age in Reunion
Réunion is an island in the south-west Indian Ocean and one of France’s overseas departments and regions. It is not a separate jurisdiction for gambling purposes: French gambling law applies there in the same way as in mainland France. Gambling is prohibited in principle, with exceptions created by statute. Those exceptions are the lottery and land-based sports-betting monopoly of FDJ, the off-course horse-race betting monopoly of PMU, casinos authorised by the Minister of the Interior, and online sports betting, horse-race betting and poker offered by operators approved by the national regulator, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ). Online casino games such as slots and roulette cannot be lawfully offered to anyone in France, including Réunion. The island has three casinos, at Saint-Denis, Saint-Gilles-les-Bains and Saint-Pierre. This guide explains how the national framework applies on the island, the local casino sector, enforcement, taxation, player protection and recent developments.
Key points
- Réunion is governed by Article 73 of the Constitution, so French statutes apply automatically. Unlike other overseas regions, it cannot be authorised to adapt national rules or set its own rules locally.
- The legal base is the Code de la sécurité intérieure (CSI) and Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010, which opened part of the online market and created the regulator now called the ANJ.
- Three casinos operate on the island, at Saint-Denis, Saint-Gilles-les-Bains and Saint-Pierre. The ANJ approves each casino’s annual plan against excessive gambling, with conditions.
- Online sports betting, horse-race betting and poker are legal with an ANJ-approved operator. Online casino games are prohibited, and the ANJ orders the blocking of illegal sites.
- National self-exclusion (interdiction volontaire de jeux) lasts at least three years and covers casinos and online operators. Joueurs Info Service answers on 09 74 75 13 13.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
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Historical development
As a French department and region, Réunion has always followed the national pattern of gambling law. The starting point is a general prohibition, now set out in Article L. 320-1 of the CSI, which states that games of money and chance are prohibited. Over the twentieth century, Parliament created exceptions for casinos in resort towns, for the state lottery and for pari-mutuel betting on horse races. A 2023 Senate committee report, by rapporteur François Bonhomme, describes this structure as a general ban with listed derogations.
The online market changed in 2010. Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010 opened online sports betting, horse-race betting and poker (“games of circle”) to competition under licence, and created a regulator, the ARJEL. In 2020 the ARJEL was replaced by the ANJ, which received wider powers over the monopoly operators and over the prevention of excessive gambling in casinos. The ANJ’s own decisions on Réunion casinos cite Law No. 2010-476 and Ordinance No. 2019-1015, the text that reorganised gambling regulation in 2019. Online casino games were left out of the 2010 opening and remain prohibited in 2026.
Some parts of the island’s gambling history are less well documented. A 2007 report by the training body Centre Inffo described plans to develop horse racing in Réunion, with a training programme for young riders and a racecourse planned on the west coast for 2010. We could not confirm from official sources whether a racecourse was built or whether races are currently run on the island. Betting through PMU on races held in mainland France is available under the national framework.
Legal framework
Réunion’s constitutional status determines how gambling law applies. Under Article 73 of the Constitution, laws and regulations apply automatically (“de plein droit”) in the overseas departments and regions, though they may be adapted to local characteristics. Article 73 also allows the other overseas regions to be authorised to adapt certain rules themselves, or to set rules in some areas. It states plainly that this power “is not applicable to the department and region of La Réunion”. In practice, Réunion’s local authorities have no power to create their own gambling regime. Any change has to come from Parliament or the national government.
The main texts are:
- Code de la sécurité intérieure, Book III, Title II. Article L. 320-1 sets out the general prohibition. Article L. 320-3 defines the objectives of gambling policy, including the prevention of excessive gambling, and Article L. 320-4 requires operators to contribute to them. Article L. 321-1 lists the categories of commune where a casino may be authorised.
- Law No. 2010-476 of 12 May 2010 on the opening to competition and regulation of the online gambling sector. It governs online sports betting, horse-race betting and poker, and the ANJ’s powers, including sanctions under Article 43.
- Ordinance No. 2019-1015, which reformed gambling regulation, gave the ANJ its current form and extended its oversight to the prevention of excessive gambling in casinos.
- The Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT), Articles L. 2333-54 to L. 2333-56, which govern the levies on casino gaming revenue.
Article L. 321-1 is the main constraint on where casinos can be opened. According to the Senate report, eligible communes include classified seaside, spa and climatic resorts, certain tourist resorts and communes where a casino already operated on 3 March 2009. The commune must first agree, through a public service delegation (délégation de service public) contract of up to 20 years. The operator then applies to the prefect, who carries out an administrative inquiry. A consultative commission on gaming clubs and casinos gives a mandatory but non-binding opinion, and the Minister of the Interior decides by order (arrêté). The 2026 Senate bill discussed below shows that these criteria are seen as a poor fit for overseas communes.
Regulator and licensing model
Gambling regulation in Réunion is shared between national bodies. No regional or departmental regulator exists:
- The Minister of the Interior authorises casinos and supervises the conduct of games, acting on prefectural inquiries.
- The ANJ approves online operators, supervises FDJ and PMU, approves the annual plans of casinos for preventing excessive gambling and of minors’ gambling, runs the national self-exclusion register and acts against illegal offers. Its list of approved operators showed 16 approved companies when consulted, covering sports betting, horse-race betting and poker.
- FDJ holds the exclusive right to lotteries, including draw games and scratchcards, and to sports betting in retail outlets. PMU holds the exclusive right to off-course horse-race betting in its retail network.
This is therefore a mixed model. A monopoly reserves an activity to a single operator, as with FDJ and PMU in retail. A licensing (approval) model allows any qualifying company to apply, as with online betting and poker. A prohibition applies to everything else, including online casino games.
Casinos on the island
Three casinos operate in Réunion. The ANJ publishes a decision each year on the action plan of each casino for preventing excessive gambling and minors’ gambling. These decisions are the most reliable public record of the island’s casinos. Each decision on the casinos of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Gilles-les-Bains refers to “the two other casinos” on the island.
| Location | Most recent ANJ decision found | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Saint-Denis (the prefecture and main city) | Decision No. 2026-084 of 26 March 2026 | 2026 plan approved, subject to four conditions |
| Saint-Pierre (south coast) | Decision No. 2025-087 of 20 March 2025 | 2025 plan approved, subject to five conditions |
| Saint-Gilles-les-Bains (west coast, commune of Saint-Paul) | Decision No. 2024-087 of 28 March 2024 | 2024 plan approved, subject to seven conditions |
The decisions follow a similar pattern. The ANJ asked the casinos to lower the thresholds at which their systems flag a player as possibly excessive, because it considered existing alert levels too high. It also asked them to strengthen voluntary limits on access (limitation volontaire d’accès, LVA), to measure whether their identification and support systems actually work, and to give players accurate information about national self-exclusion. The Saint-Denis decision of 2026 also suggested excluding players identified as excessive from marketing, and the Saint-Pierre decision of 2025 asked the casino to consider restricting play on its own initiative in serious cases. The Saint-Gilles decision of 2024 noted that the casino’s LVA procedure had been adapted to the presence of the two other casinos on the island. A player limiting access at one venue could otherwise simply drive to another. Failure to comply may lead to referral to the ANJ’s sanctions committee under Article 43 of Law No. 2010-476.
We did not find an official source reporting a casino opening or closing in Réunion between 2023 and 2026. The ANJ decisions show all three venues operating during this period.
Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced
Residents of Réunion have the same online options as players in mainland France. ANJ-approved operators may offer online sports betting, pool and fixed-odds horse-race betting, and poker. Approved operators must refuse players who are registered as self-excluded.
Online casino games are not available legally. In its answer to written question No. 294, published on 7 March 2023, the government stated that online casino games are prohibited under Articles L. 320-1 and L. 320-6 of the CSI. It cited the ANJ’s message that “all online casino sites are illegal” in France and that foreign licences have no legal value there. A licence from Curaçao, Malta or elsewhere therefore does not permit an operator to serve players in Réunion.
Enforcement is national and does not depend on where the player lives. The main tools are:
- Administrative blocking. Since the law of 2 March 2022, the ANJ can itself order internet service providers to block illegal gambling sites and have them removed from search results, without going to court. The ANJ’s 2024 annual report records 1,335 URLs blocked in 2024.
- Criminal prosecution. Operating an illegal online gambling site and advertising it are criminal offences.
- Advertising controls. The ANJ and the authorities also monitor influencers and streamers who promote illegal sites, according to the 2023 government answer.
The scale of the illegal market is significant. A study commissioned by the ANJ and carried out with PwC, reported by Public Gaming in December 2023, estimated the gross gaming revenue (GGR) of the illegal online offer at between €748 million and €1.5 billion, or 5% to 11% of the total French gambling market. GGR is the amount staked minus winnings paid out. The study estimated that about 3 million people used illegal sites at least once a month in early 2023, and that online casino games and slots accounted for about half of illegal traffic. The study did not give a separate figure for Réunion.
A large case in 2025 showed how enforcement works in practice. In a press release of 10 October 2025, the Paris public prosecutor announced that two men had been charged and placed in pre-trial detention over an unlicensed online casino that had generated close to €1 billion in revenue since 2021. More than 98% of its activity came from French residents. The ANJ had reported the site in 2024, and after it was blocked, mirror sites appeared. The charges included organised operation of prohibited gambling, money laundering and illegal advertising. Identified players had lost €201,755 in winnings they could not withdraw.
Position of players
The sources we reviewed direct criminal and administrative measures at operators, advertisers and intermediaries, not at players. The government’s 2023 answer on illegal online casinos focuses on the risks to players rather than on any sanction against them. The October 2025 prosecution concerned the organisers of an illegal site and did not mention action against its customers. We found no record of a player in Réunion, or elsewhere in France, being prosecuted simply for playing on an unlicensed website.
That does not make such play safe or lawful in a positive sense. According to the government’s 2023 answer, illegal sites use game software that has not been checked, rarely pay winnings, do not verify age, expose players to debt and offer no self-exclusion. Players also have no access to ANJ supervision if a dispute arises. Inside Réunion’s casinos, minors are barred, and people registered as self-excluded are refused entry.
Young people are a particular concern locally. The Agence régionale de santé (ARS) La Réunion, in its 2025 call for projects on addictions, cited the EnCLASS 2023 survey: one in ten secondary school (lycée) pupils in Réunion said they had bet money in the previous twelve months, although sales to minors are prohibited. The same document names addiction to games of money and chance among the behaviours that funded projects may address.
Taxation
Casinos and operators
Casinos in Réunion are taxed under the same regime as those in mainland France. The tax authority’s guidance, BOI-TCA-PJC-10-20, explains the main levy. It is a progressive levy (prélèvement progressif) charged on the gross gaming product (produit brut des jeux, PBJ), meaning stakes less winnings. A flat 25% allowance is deducted first. Rates then rise by bracket, starting at 6% on the lowest slice, under the schedule set by Article D. 2333-74 of the CGCT. Where this levy and the commune’s own levy would together exceed 83.5%, the state rate is reduced.
Communes benefit in two ways, according to the Senate report and the tax guidance:
- a direct levy of up to 15% of the PBJ, set in the contract between the commune and the casino;
- a share equal to 10% of the state’s progressive levy, paid back to the commune, subject to caps linked to the commune’s operating revenue.
Saint-Denis, Saint-Paul (for Saint-Gilles-les-Bains) and Saint-Pierre therefore receive income from their casinos. We did not find published figures for the amounts collected in Réunion. Some sources refer to arrangements specific to the overseas departments, but we could not confirm the current rules from an official text, so they are not described here. FDJ, PMU and online operators pay national levies on stakes or GGR, which are not specific to Réunion.
Players
Gambling winnings are generally not subject to income tax in France. In an answer to a question from a Réunion deputy, published on 6 October 2009, the government stated that winnings are not taxable income under Article 12 of the Code général des impôts. It added that casino winnings of €1,500 or more are subject to the social levy CSG, then at 12%. The rate has since risen: in a ministerial answer published on 31 July 2018, the government stated that slot-machine winnings of €1,500 or more paid manually are subject to CSG at 13.7%, collected by the casino when it pays the winner, after a 1.7-point increase from 1 January 2018. A Conseil d’État ruling of 21 June 2018 (No. 412124), reported in Les Petites Affiches, held that poker winnings may be taxed as non-commercial profits where play is habitual, the player’s skill masters the element of chance and the winnings provide significant income.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
The central protection tool is national voluntary self-exclusion (interdiction volontaire de jeux), run by the ANJ. According to an ANJ leaflet, it is requested online, lasts at least three years, and covers:
- casinos and gaming clubs, including the three casinos in Réunion;
- FDJ and PMU games played through a player account;
- approved online sports betting, horse-race betting and poker sites.
The exclusion continues until the person asks for it to be lifted, which can be done after the three-year minimum. The ANJ’s 2024 annual report counted 73,439 people registered at the end of 2024, up 26% on 2023. The ANJ also publishes a dataset of self-excluded persons by department on the government open-data portal, which includes figures by department. Inside casinos, players may also sign a voluntary limitation of access (LVA) with a venue. The ANJ decisions described above show the regulator pushing Réunion’s casinos to make these contracts more effective.
The national helpline, Joueurs Info Service, answers on 09 74 75 13 13 from 8 am to 2 am, seven days a week, according to the ANJ. On the island, gambling problems are handled through the general addiction treatment network coordinated by the ARS. Readers may also consult our responsible gambling guide.
The time difference is worth noting. Réunion is two to three hours ahead of mainland France, depending on the season, so the helpline’s opening hours do not match local time exactly. Callers should check the hours in their own time zone.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Senate bill on overseas casinos (January 2026). On 27 January 2026 Senator Dominique Théophile tabled bill No. 305 (2025–2026) to adapt the casino authorisation regime in the overseas departments and regions governed by Article 73, which includes Réunion. It would add a new category to Article L. 321-1 of the CSI. Communes would qualify if they have natural hydrothermal features and a protected natural site within or next to a national park or a marine protected area, even without classification as a tourist resort. The Senate’s legislative file, updated on 3 August 2026, showed the bill still awaiting first reading, with no committee report.
- Casino supervision. The ANJ approved the Saint-Denis casino’s 2026 plan in March 2026 with four conditions, continuing a series of conditional approvals for the island’s casinos since 2023.
- Online casino debate. The national government consulted on regulating online casino games in 2024, and land-based casinos opposed the drafting. In June 2025 the ANJ called for a “highly controlled” approach, according to iGaming Business. We found no adopted law opening online casino games as of October 2026.
- Enforcement. In October 2025 the Paris prosecutor charged the alleged organisers of a large illegal online casino, following an ANJ referral and blocking.
- Lottery. FDJ’s retail network operates across the island. In August 2025, FDJ reported that a player in L’Étang-Salé had won the €500,000 top prize on a scratchcard.
Casino listings for players in Réunion
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is licensed in France. Offering online casino games to residents of Réunion is prohibited under French law, so the listings must not be read as an indication that playing at these sites is lawful. Only operators on the ANJ’s list of approved operators may lawfully offer online sports betting, horse-race betting or poker in Réunion.
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Sources and further reading
- Conseil constitutionnel, Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 (texte intégral en vigueur), Articles 72-3 and 73 (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Sénat, F. Bonhomme, Rapport n° 584 (2022-2023) sur la proposition de loi visant à réduire les inégalités territoriales pour les ouvertures de casinos (2023).
- Sénat, D. Théophile, Proposition de loi n° 305 (2025-2026) visant à adapter le régime d’autorisation des casinos dans les départements et les régions d’outre-mer régis par l’article 73 de la Constitution (2026).
- Sénat, Dossier législatif: proposition de loi n° 305 (2025-2026) (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Décision n° 2026-084 du 26 mars 2026 (casino de Saint-Denis, La Réunion) (2026).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Décision n° 2025-087 du 20 mars 2025 (casino de Saint-Pierre) (2025).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Décision n° 2024-087 du 28 mars 2024 (casino de Saint-Gilles-les-Bains) (2024).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Opérateurs agréés (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Interdiction volontaire de jeux: casino (leaflet, 2023).
- Autorité nationale des jeux (data.gouv.fr), Répartition géographique par département des personnes faisant l’objet d’une interdiction volontaire de jeux depuis 2023 (2025).
- Autorité nationale des jeux, Rapport annuel 2024 (accessed 13 October 2026).
- Assemblée nationale, Question écrite n° 294 (C. Naegelen) on illegal online casinos, with ministerial answer (2023).
- Assemblée nationale, Question écrite n° 49561 (D. Robert) on casinos and the taxation of winnings, with ministerial answer (2009).
- Direction générale des finances publiques, BOI-TCA-PJC-10-20: prélèvement progressif (2021).
- Parquet de Paris, Communiqué de presse du 10 octobre 2025 on an illegal online casino investigation (2025).
- Agence régionale de santé La Réunion, Appel à projets régional: prévention et lutte contre les addictions, cahier des charges 2025 (2025).
- Public Gaming Research Institute, Illegal online gambling: the France National Gambling Authority publishes a study (2023).
- D. Cook (iGaming Business), ANJ calls for ‘highly controlled approach’ to regulating iGaming in France (2025).
- Assemblée nationale, Question écrite n° 7066 on the CSG paid by casinos, with ministerial answer (2018).
- A. Pando (Actu-Juridique), Joueurs de poker : l’imposition des gains se précise (LPA, 13 November 2018).
- FDJ, À la Réunion, une joueuse remporte 500 000 € en grattant un ticket Carré Or (2025).
- Centre Inffo, La Réunion entraîne ses jeunes à devenir jockeys (2007).
