Martinique Casino Guide
This is a guide to brick and mortar as well as online casinos in Martinique (insular region of France, an overseas department, located in the Lesser Antilles in the Eastern Caribbean Sea, with around 376,000 residents). Find out which are the best casinos and online casino sites in Martinique, or learn more about the legal status of casino gambling in the country.
Online casinos in Martinique
Legal status of online casino gambling: illegal, but players can play freely online and are not prosecuted due to EU gambling legislation, Article 56 TFEU
In order to fully understand whether online casinos are legal in Martinique, one needs to take a brief look at the country’s history.
Martinique is an island that is part of the Lesser Antilles and is located in the Caribbean Sea. The island had been under British occupation 1815, when it was traded to France. In 1946, Martinique was officially declared an Overseas Department of France, which means that Martinicans are French citizens, and the island is a French territory, which means that French casino gambling laws apply
As an Overseas Department, Martinique sends representatives to the National Assembly of France, and the laws of France automatically apply in Martinique as well, though they may be slightly modified to suit the characteristics and needs of the island. However, in case of online casino gambling legislation, this did not happen, and it was adapted without modifications.
This means that while online gambling was legalised in 2010, according to Law 2010-476 2010*, online casinos are still not yet made legal, and it is technically illegal in France (and in France this is taken seriously, unlicensed online casinos are blocked, and rouge domestic operators are severely punished, however, in the overseas territories, this ban is only a technicality and players can play freely online, the smaller government of the island does not have the resources to monitor and control the internet usage of its residents).
As a result, there are currently no licensed online casino sites in either France or Martinique, nor any way for them to become licensed, though there is significant pressure on France from the EU to legalise online casino gambling. In fact, because there are no local, licensed alternatives, playing in these offshore online casinos is actually pretty common in France and its territories. According to studies (sources below), millions of players, at least 50% of people who play online visit unlicensed offshore online casinos regularly**.
No player has ever been fined or prosecuted for this. This is true for all EU countries and their territories, EU gambling laws dictate, that according to Freedom to provide services — Article 56 TFEU***: if a country does not provide any means for foreign online casinos to acquire licenses, then they can not punish or block these gambling websites or players who visit them.
As a result, Martinique players are free to visit any of the international online casino sites (but very few actually accepts players from French territories, you can see a list of them below, if they are blocked, or no longer accept players from the territory, please let me know, so I can update the lists, thank you).
Can tourists play online while visiting Martinique?
Yes, the laws of the country only apply to citizens and lawful permanent residents, if you are a tourist (or a non-citizen expat, or illegal), you can play online freely while enjoying your vacation.
Online casino licensing and regulatory body of Martinique:
N/A, online casino licenses are not issued.
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That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Taxation of online casino sites in Martinique:
N/A, no online casino taxation system is in place.
For the players, taxation of gambling winnings in Martinique:
Gambling winnings over €1500 are taxable, 12% tax rate. However, licensed domestic companies are required to pay taxes on your winnings, not you. Therefore, as long as you play in a licensed establishment, you don’t have to pay any taxes (it’s automatically deducted from your winnings).
However, if you play abroad, or online, and if you win over €1500, you would have to pay taxes on it.
/In reality, this is rarely enforced, but if you win a really big amount, e.g.: €100 000+, I would certainly suggest paying taxes on it, otherwise you can get into a lot of trouble. Of course, I advise paying taxes on your winnings all the time, not paying taxes is illegal, but realistically, it’s not really enforced when it comes to small amounts./
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How to get featured
- send me a link to your website, or your employer's website
- send me 1-2 sentences about you and/or your business etc.., something that describes the business, what you do, something that makes potential clients interested
- send me one single picture of your company's logo, or a picture of your office, or one of your certificates, credentials which you are proud of etc... (but don't send a picture of yourself, for legal reasons I want to avoid uploading pictures of people)
The picture must be 150x150 pixels.
Contact me through the live chat, it's in the bottom right corner of the website, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page, with a link to the website you wish to advertise. If you qualify, I will give you my email address where we can discuss everything (I won't be putting my email address on the page, due to the extreme amount of spam I receive as it is).
In exchange: In order to appear for free on this website, you have to link back to this guide, from your website. It must be your website, your employer's website, a law blog or something similar. The link doesn't have to be in a prominent position, or on the homepage. It can be placed at the bottom of an unimportant page, where people don't see it, that's fine with me. And 1 sentence is enough, something like this: "We are featured on Simon's Gambling and Casino Blog, at <link here>."
That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Age requirement of online casinos in Martinique: 18+
Sources, main pieces of online casino gambling legislation:
***Freedom to provide services — Article 56 TFEU — Games of chance
Online casinos accepting players from Martinique
The following online gambling websites accept players from Martinique:
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How to get featured
- send me a link to your website, or your employer's website
- send me 1-2 sentences about you and/or your business etc.., something that describes the business, what you do, something that makes potential clients interested
- send me one single picture of your company's logo, or a picture of your office, or one of your certificates, credentials which you are proud of etc... (but don't send a picture of yourself, for legal reasons I want to avoid uploading pictures of people)
The picture must be 150x150 pixels.
Contact me through the live chat, it's in the bottom right corner of the website, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page, with a link to the website you wish to advertise. If you qualify, I will give you my email address where we can discuss everything (I won't be putting my email address on the page, due to the extreme amount of spam I receive as it is).
In exchange: In order to appear for free on this website, you have to link back to this guide, from your website. It must be your website, your employer's website, a law blog or something similar. The link doesn't have to be in a prominent position, or on the homepage. It can be placed at the bottom of an unimportant page, where people don't see it, that's fine with me. And 1 sentence is enough, something like this: "We are featured on Simon's Gambling and Casino Blog, at <link here>."
That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Land-based casinos in Martinique
Legal status of brick & mortar casinos: legal requires a licence from L’Autorité nationale des Jeux – ANJ, the French casino licensing and regulatory authority
Brick & mortar casinos are completely legal in France, and therefore in Martinique as well, according to Chapitre préliminaire: Dispositions communes – Articles L320-1 à L320-18*. Casinos in Martinique are subjected to the same laws as those located in France. This means that casino operators must obtain a French gambling licence in order to offer their services legally within Martinique.
Even though France is the birthplace of many popular casino games such as roulette or baccarat, French Martinique is not known for its casinos. Unlike many other Caribbean islands that are famous destinations for casino loving tourists, Martinique has only 2 casinos, most of them very small (although for a country with only 375K citizens, it’s good amount, and it is only comparatively low, compared to the Caribbean region, which is overabundant in casinos). Casinos are reliant on tourists, which the island nation gets 800K (mostly French) visitors per year**.
The largest casino in Martinique is Casino Bateliere Plaza. You can read the details of these gaming venues along with all the other Martinique casinos in the list below.
UPDATE COVID-19: Sadly, this French overseas territory was also not spared from the global coronavirus pandemic, and because of the country’s strong reliance on tourism (around 10% of the GDP***) it was severely effected, but so far, this has not resulted in any casino bankruptcies (at the time of writing), although it’s quite certain that a few of the officially temporary closures are probably permanent (this is a common strategy, companies try to secure financing behind the scenes, and postpone announcing bankruptcy as long as possible).
You can find all the currently operating brick-and-mortar casinos in the list below.
Can locals visit the casinos in Martinique?
Yes, locals can visit the casinos too, not just tourists.
Casino licensing and regulatory body of Martinique:
Martinique doesn’t have its own gambling regulatory and licensing authority. Instead, games of chance, online licenses and land-based gambling licensing is handled by the French regulatory agencies.
Betting activities have traditionally been divided between the Pari Mutuel Hippodrome (PMH) and the Pari Mutuel Urbaine (PMU). Lottery, as well as some lottery-style games such as bingo, are in the hands of Francaise des Jeux (FDJ).
Online gambling and the licensing of brick & mortar gambling houses are the domain of by the Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) UPDATE: L’Autorité nationale des Jeux ANJ, which replaces ARJEL as the regulatory authority of most forms of gambling and online gambling from 2020. You have to contact them if you want to set up a gambling establishment, or get an online gambling license.
Online gambling has been legal and regulated in France and its overseas territories. Three forms of gambling are currently permitted to be conducted online by licensed private companies:
- sports betting,
- poker,
- and horse race betting.
UPDATE: The licensing process, fees, procedures were overhauled entirely in 2019, during the implementation of PACTE Act. The whole process is now more business friendly, fees are lower, and it is streamlined, the document, which lists all the changes, is attached below.****
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- send me 1-2 sentences about you and/or your business etc.., something that describes the business, what you do, something that makes potential clients interested
- send me one single picture of your company's logo, or a picture of your office, or one of your certificates, credentials which you are proud of etc... (but don't send a picture of yourself, for legal reasons I want to avoid uploading pictures of people)
The picture must be 150x150 pixels.
Contact me through the live chat, it's in the bottom right corner of the website, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page, with a link to the website you wish to advertise. If you qualify, I will give you my email address where we can discuss everything (I won't be putting my email address on the page, due to the extreme amount of spam I receive as it is).
In exchange: In order to appear for free on this website, you have to link back to this guide, from your website. It must be your website, your employer's website, a law blog or something similar. The link doesn't have to be in a prominent position, or on the homepage. It can be placed at the bottom of an unimportant page, where people don't see it, that's fine with me. And 1 sentence is enough, something like this: "We are featured on Simon's Gambling and Casino Blog, at <link here>."
That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Taxation of brick & mortar gambling establishments in Martinique:
French gambling taxes apply, which are extremely high:
Gambling tax in France and overseas territories (tax base is gross gaming revenue, from 2020 onwards, annual):
- 37.7% horse racing tax
- 40.8% online poker tax
- 55.2% online sports betting tax
- 44.5% retail sports betting tax
- lottery tax is 54.5% and the tax on other lottery like games (bingo, keno, raffles) is 42%
Gaming clubs (special type of casino, VIP, entrance fee, dress code):
-
10% of revenue, up to EUR100,000.
-
30% of revenue, EUR100,000 – EUR1,500,000.
-
40% of revenue, EUR1,500,000 – EUR2,600,000.
-
55% of revenue, EUR2,600,000 – EUR5,500,000.
-
70% of revenue, above EUR5,500,000
Casinos, it’s 28% first + the following progressive tax on the remainder, based on annual gross gaming revenue:
- Up to EUR100,000: 6%.
- EUR100,001 and EUR200,000: 16%.
- EUR200,001 and EUR500,000: 25%.
- EUR500,001 and EUR1 million: 37%.
- EUR1,000,001 and EUR1.5 million: 47%.
- EUR1,500,001 and EUR4.7 million: 58%.
- EUR4,700,001 and EUR7.8 million: 63.3%.
- EUR7,800,001 and EUR11 million: 67.6%.
- EUR11,000,001 and EUR14 million: 72%.
- EUR14 million: 83.5%
If this wasn’t enough, a 11.2% tax is paid on the 68% of the gross gambling revenue from slot machines.
In addition, every gambling establishments has to pay a 13.7% withholding tax on any winnings by players equal to or exceeding EUR 1,500 (this is because gambling winnings over €1500 are taxable in France, and players never paid taxes on them, so now casinos have to).
As you can see, it’s incredibly high, the highest gambling tax rate in all of the world!
Keep in mind, that this gambling tax is paid on top of regular, corporate tax (can be as high as 31%), and taxes paid on the wages of employees (of course some of it is deductible, but still). In fact, with this crazy system, it’s possible for a casinos to get really close to a 100% effective tax rate.
For the players, taxation of gambling winnings in Martinique:
Gambling winnings over €1500 are taxable, 12% tax rate. However, licensed domestic companies are required to pay taxes on your winnings, not you. Therefore, as long as you play in a licensed establishment, you don’t have to pay any taxes (it’s automatically deducted from your winnings).
However, if you play abroad, or online, and if you win over €1500, you would have to pay taxes on it.
/In reality, this is rarely enforced, but if you win a really big amount, e.g.: €100 000+, I would certainly suggest paying taxes on it, otherwise you can get into a lot of trouble. Of course, I advise paying taxes on your winnings all the time, not paying taxes is illegal, but realistically, it’s not really enforced when it comes to small amounts./
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And all this for free. Click on the drop down section if you are interested and want to get listed.
How to get featured
- send me a link to your website, or your employer's website
- send me 1-2 sentences about you and/or your business etc.., something that describes the business, what you do, something that makes potential clients interested
- send me one single picture of your company's logo, or a picture of your office, or one of your certificates, credentials which you are proud of etc... (but don't send a picture of yourself, for legal reasons I want to avoid uploading pictures of people)
The picture must be 150x150 pixels.
Contact me through the live chat, it's in the bottom right corner of the website, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page, with a link to the website you wish to advertise. If you qualify, I will give you my email address where we can discuss everything (I won't be putting my email address on the page, due to the extreme amount of spam I receive as it is).
In exchange: In order to appear for free on this website, you have to link back to this guide, from your website. It must be your website, your employer's website, a law blog or something similar. The link doesn't have to be in a prominent position, or on the homepage. It can be placed at the bottom of an unimportant page, where people don't see it, that's fine with me. And 1 sentence is enough, something like this: "We are featured on Simon's Gambling and Casino Blog, at <link here>."
That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Age requirement of land-based casinos, slot parlours in Martinique: it’s actually 18+, was lowered from 21+ in 1987
Sources, main pieces of land-based casino legislation:
**Statista – Martinique: number of foreign visitor arrivals 2010-2019
***Travel & Tourism Economic Impact 2016 Martinique
******Whitecase – PACTE Act (action plan for the growth and transformation of companies)
List of all the casinos in Martinique
This is a list of the 2 currently operating casinos in Martinique with address, opening hours, number and types of games, dress code, entrance fee, reviews and a video of each gambling establishment if one is available.
Martinique doesn’t have any slot halls, just the two casinos.
Casino Le Lorrain, Le Petit Casino de Terreville etc.. are not casinos, they are just supermarkets of the Casino grocery store chain, it’s just a misleading name.
Casino Bateliere Plaza
MaPau St Kitts Casino & Entertainment Centre, address: Casino Batelière Plazza, Résidence les Alizés de Batelière, Schoelcher 97233
This is the biggest Martinique casino currently (by international standards it is still below average). Sadly, the casino has no English website, only a French one, which is quite an oversight, considering the reliance on tourists, not all of the tourists visiting the island come from France (although, most are). This is a Groupe Cogit casino, which is the company which also operates most of the casinos of Guadeloupe.
Games: around 125 slots, around 5 tables (1 Ultimate Poker, 1 Texas Hold’em Poker, 2 Blackjack, 1 English Roulette*) + electronic English Roulette (automatic wheel, no croupier)
*English Roulette explanation: a variation of French Roulette, it uses the same wheel, minor differences
Video of Casino Bateliere Plaza:
Opening hours: 10 am to 3 am Sunday to Thursday.
From 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays
UPDATE COVID-19: open
Dress code: no official dress code
Entrance fee: no entrance fee
Meta review analysis: the casino gets good reviews, 4/5, on reviews sites, no major problems
18+, ID, and passport for tourists, is needed to enter.
Casino des Trois-Ilets
Casino des 3 îlets, address: 24 Rue des Bougainvillees, Les Trois-Îlets 97229
The best looking casino on the island of Martinique, also the second biggest. Another Groupe Cogit casino, and just like all the other casinos of this brand, it doesn’t have an English webpage sadly. This is the casino on the picture at the top of the page.
Games: around 70 slots, around 2 tables (1 Blackjack, 1 English Roulette) + electronic English Roulette (automatic wheel, no croupier)
Video of Casino des Trois-Ilets:
The video is from 2012. I couldn’t find a more recent video of the casino gaming venue, if you know of any, please drop a link to it in the comments section.
Opening hours: open daily from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m.
UPDATE COVID-19: open
Dress code: no official dress code
Entrance fee: no entrance fee
Meta review analysis: the casino gets good reviews, 4/5, on reviews sites, no major problems
18+, ID, and passport for tourists, is needed to enter.
Apart from these casinos, there is Hippodrome de Carrère Lamentin, race track.
Cryptocurrency, bitcoin casinos in Martinique
Cryptocurrency gambling is not specifically regulated in Martinique or France. It’s unknow if any of the 6 casinos on the island accept any litecoin, bitcoin, ethereum or any cryptocurrency. They do not have any info about this on their websites or social media profiles. If you have been to the any of the casinos above, and you know whether they accept crypto or not, please drop a comment at the botom of the page, thank you.
Other forms of online gambling in Martinique
Online gambling has been legal and regulated in France and its overseas territories since 2010. Only the following forms of gambling are currently permitted to be conducted online by licensed companies:
- sports betting,
- poker,
- horse racing betting.
+Online lottery is a monopoly of the French Lottery company FDJ (Française des Jeux).
However, according to EU laws (explained above, in the online casino section), players from Martinique can play online in foreign online casinos freely.
The following online gambling websites accept players from Martinique:
Free advertisement for local accountants, CPAs and accounting firms from this country
And all this for free. Click on the drop down section if you are interested and want to get listed.
How to get featured
- send me a link to your website, or your employer's website
- send me 1-2 sentences about you and/or your business etc.., something that describes the business, what you do, something that makes potential clients interested
- send me one single picture of your company's logo, or a picture of your office, or one of your certificates, credentials which you are proud of etc... (but don't send a picture of yourself, for legal reasons I want to avoid uploading pictures of people)
The picture must be 150x150 pixels.
Contact me through the live chat, it's in the bottom right corner of the website, or in the comments section at the bottom of this page, with a link to the website you wish to advertise. If you qualify, I will give you my email address where we can discuss everything (I won't be putting my email address on the page, due to the extreme amount of spam I receive as it is).
In exchange: In order to appear for free on this website, you have to link back to this guide, from your website. It must be your website, your employer's website, a law blog or something similar. The link doesn't have to be in a prominent position, or on the homepage. It can be placed at the bottom of an unimportant page, where people don't see it, that's fine with me. And 1 sentence is enough, something like this: "We are featured on Simon's Gambling and Casino Blog, at <link here>."
That's all, if you are interested, get in touch. Looking forward to hearing from you.
This article supplements the general guide to the legal status of gambling in Martinique.
Simon’s Guide to Land-based and Online Casinos in Martinique is part of Simon’s Online Casino Guide.
Last updated: 2021-05-12
Gamble responsibly,
SimonTheSorcerer
Last Updated on 2021-05-12 by Simon
 That's me, Simon, thank you for visiting. I'm an independent gambling blogger since 2012. In this sector dominated by huge media companies, casino operators and online marketing networks, who can easily spend $ millions on their online gambling blogs, it's not easy for an independent nobody like me to survive. It took me about 6 years, working my ass off, to even have a chance to be noticed by visitors like you. I'm lucky enough that for a few years now, I make enough money to be able to do this full time (before that, I had part-time jobs, ghost writing gigs, online marketing this and that). Now I can finally do this full time, thanks to visitors like you! And it means a lot! If you are interested, please bookmark this site (no social media profiles, I no longer have any, but please feel free to share anything on any social media networks, if you still use them). I don't have any money to advertise, and if you have a personal blog, any social media profile, please mention my gambling blog and link back to it. This the only way for a small website like this to grow. Thank you! |
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