“The advantage with sport is that everyone has an opinion”.
How can we blame Julien Huber, responsible for the offer and marketing at Winamax?
All you have to do is listen for the last few days, on public transport, at work or with friends.
" France ?
Of course we will bet on a final victory, ”smiles Yannick, 34, a bank employee.
“Don't forget Belgium”, replies her colleague Amélie, born in… Brussels.
Yes, with the approach of a competition like Euro 2021, which starts this Friday with a Turkey-Italy in Rome, many French people will develop their player soul.
For Winamax and the 14 other betting operators (Parions Sport, ZeBet, PMU, Unibet, etc.) approved by the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), this Euro should allow them to ride the wave formed in recent years.
According to ANJ figures, all these operators have more than 4 million active player accounts.
This is four times more than in 2014, the year of the World Cup in Brazil.
This is a million more than in 2018, a record year for betting in France, in particular thanks to the final victory of the Blues.
"800,000 accounts created in 4 weeks of competition"
"The figure to keep in mind is 800,000 accounts created over the four weeks of competition during the 2018 World Cup," explains Ludovic Adel, president of the betting coaching application TipsTop.
These big competitions allow a big recruitment cycle.
The France-Croatia final has accumulated 32 million euros in stakes, with 80% of bets on France ”.
Enough to make this final a small event.
“The little story is that we lost money that day,” smiles Julien Huber.
The victory of the Blues, listed at 2
(Editor's note: for 1 euro wagered, you get 2)
, allowed all the players to have a great evening.
"At Winamax, 30 players had bet 200 euros on the exact score 4-2 with an odds of 150. Result: 30,000 euros won per person", details the head of the French firm.
No worries for the operators, however: over time, they will always be winners, like the Française des Jeux (FDJ) and the lottery.
“We see that the players have a strong belief in sports betting, details Ludovic Adel, who, via his application, offers more reasoned support, including sums wagered.
They often take away the element of chance and overestimate themselves ”.
The ANJ, through the voice of its president Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, also recalls "the importance of maintaining a moderate and controlled game practice", asking operators for "sufficiently clear welcome offers" and closely monitoring advice sites that "fall under deceptive marketing practices".
Hand drawn chalkboard for display in the office
Beyond paid bets, the French love predictions. The free application Mon Petit Prono expects 800,000 participants by Friday evening and the start of the Euro. “We registered 50,000 new registrants on Monday alone,” enthuses Martin Jaglin, boss of Fantaleague, the company behind Mon Petit Prono. Several other players (Ccup.io, Corporico or Scorecast) have come into play. In all other cases, the most accessible formula remains: a table made by hand or in Excel to display at the office or on your fridge.
It remains to make your own bets or predictions.
Among French operators, France is the favorite of this Euro 2021 alongside England (odds at 6), ahead of Belgium, Germany or ... Spain, yet announced in decline and weighed down by cases of Covid- 19.
Among the top scorers, the favorites of the bookmakers are called Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Kylian Mbappé.
And the return of Karim Benzema then?
“It didn't have a big impact on the Blues' rating,” explains Ludovic Adel.
The team was already very strong before him.
On the other hand, we see a lot of people betting on Benzema as the top scorer.
We feel that the French want to believe it ”.
That's good, so are we!
For the Blues, the Euro will start on Tuesday against Germany.
The madness of betting is expected to follow.
