ANJ Orders Blocking of Cbet and Stake in Major Illegal Gambling Crackdown

The French gambling regulator ANJ has secured court orders to block access to Cbet and Stake, two illegal gambling sites that recorded approximately 560,000 visits from France in June 2021 alone.

Court RulingsThe Paris Judicial Court issued two separate rulings ordering French ISPs to block the sites:

20 May 2021: Blocking order for cbet.gg and www.cbet.gg, which offered unauthorized games including JETX. The court also ordered blocking of mirror sites cbet2.gg and www.cbet2.gg13 July 2021: Blocking order for stake.com and www.stake.com, which allowed players to wager using cryptocurrencyThe ANJ specifically flagged Stake's use of cryptocurrency as a violation, noting that licensed operators are prohibited from accepting crypto payments due to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing requirements.

Enforcement ContextOnline casinos remain illegal in France, with the regulator citing addiction risks and lack of player protections as key concerns. The ANJ made combating illegal gambling a priority for 2021.

The blocking procedure involves four steps: documenting illegal content, formal notice to site operators and hosts, court referral, and ISP blocking orders. In 2020, regulators blocked 281 domain names covering 125 illegal sites.

Mirror sites—duplicates created to circumvent initial blocks—are subject to a faster, streamlined blocking procedure.

This marks the first time ANJ has publicly announced specific site blocking decisions, signaling an intent to raise awareness about the risks of illegal gambling platforms operating in France.