France has been removed as a venue for the European Poker Tour, the organizers announced this week without giving any reasons. Inevitably, speculation was immediate that the change of plan for the poker spectacle was motivated by the truculent attitude of the French gambling industry to any threat to its monopolistic structure.
The decision appears to have been left to the last minute. Set to run February 20-24 at the Casino Barriere de Deauville, the French Open was still being advertised as early as last week and tournament seats were being offered by online poker rooms as part of recent promotions.