France's stance against illegal gambling reached epic heights of stupidity this week, with the announcement of WPT Enterprises' renunciaton of filming the upcoming
Grand Prix de Paris at the Aviation Club de France, as indicated in the following official statement:
« We regret to announce we have canceled our plans to film the
Grand Prix de Paris tournament, which will still be held as announced at the Aviation Club de France, May 6-11, 2007. Due to gaming regulations in France, we did not receive assurances in the time needed to proceed with filming the event. We continue to work with Parisian officials to obtain permission to film at the Aviation Club at a later date. We have a great relationship with the
WPT Charter Member Casino and look forward to resuming our tour stops in France. »
Meanwhile, a spokesperson from the Aviation Club published the following letter :
« This is with sadness and bitterness that we have to announce that WPTE will not be able to shoot the "Grand Prix de Paris" at the Aviation Club de France on May 6th to 11th.
The "Rendez-vous à Paris" festival including the €10,000 THNL "Grand Prix de Paris" will still be organized as announced and promoted. Aviation Club's partnership with WPTE will stay as strong as ever. Soon the French authorities will concede that the WPTE activities are as legal in France as they are in the US and all over the world. Then ACF and WPTE will commonly announce new dates for a
World Poker Tour event at the Aviation Club de France.
We wish that you still come to Paris May 6th-11th to participate (in) the "Grand Prix de Paris" event, who deserve to be successful. »
In their never-ending battle against any gamble who's not state-owned, French authorities' new target is now the
World Poker Tour, guilty of operating and promoting an online cardroom. Despite the fact that WPTonline.com actually stopped serving French customers a year ago, and is therefore not guilty of any crime on French territory, the decision stood firm.
After Deauville's
EPT cancellation, this news comes as another tremendous blow for poker in France, as the
World Poker Tour Paris tournament was the only European stop on the tour, and one of the most popular venues, providing great entertainment for viewers around the world during the past five seasons, including the epic battle between Surinder Sunar and Tony G in 2004.
The
Grand Prix de Paris remains on schedule this year, but it's highly likely that the event will draw way fewer players than the previous years, especially now that the wearing of any sponsored gear is prohibited within French cardrooms.
The Aviation Club and the
WPT said their relationship will stay "as strong as ever," but many can suspect that the
WPT is already looking for a more welcoming country to settle its camera crews on.
For more Happenings in Europe, visit
CardPlayerEurope.com
