Gambling in France is legal. According to a 2022 TGM Research report, 49% of people in France participated in some form of betting in the 12 months prior to the report's data collection; the figure includes 28% who specifically bet on sports.

The gambling industry in France has a very long history, and the country holds some of the oldest and most popular gambling establishments in the world. France has also contributed to the development of popular casino games. It was in France that the queen card became a permanent feature of the Blackjack deck, replacing the nobleman in the 16th century. In the 17th century, French mathematician Blaise Pascal invented the roulette wheel which later led to the introduction of the roulette game. Additionally, parimutuel betting has a French origin and was invented around 1870.

To contain gambling within narrow limits and reserve it for social exclusivity, Napoleon issued the decree of June 24, 1806, which prohibited all houses of games of chance throughout the Empire, but made two exceptions: Article 4 stipulated "Our Minister of Police will make particular regulations for places where mineral waters exist during the water season only, and for the city of Paris." Through derogations, establishments were born in tourist resorts other than thermal spas, particularly seaside resorts.

The first modern casinos in the 19th century were often wooden shacks dismantled at the beginning and end of each season, essentially devoted to therapeutic purposes, hence their location in the heart of tourist resorts (initially thermal spas where nobility and bourgeoisie went to "take the waters"). As usage multiplied and owners desired to display prestige, proprietors moved toward architectural follies representing buildings of ostentatious display in these places of social distinction.

The first casino was established in 1822 in Dieppe, designed by architect Pierre Châtelain with the Count of Brancas, sub-prefect of the city who led the project. Casino activities truly began from 1834. In 1823, the Hôtel Guilland was built in Aix-les-Bains with the ambition of becoming a casino, achieved with the inaugural of the Casino Grand-Cercle in 1849.

A second casino was established in 1825 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, with the construction by Auguste Versial and engineer Marguet of the Palace of Neptune (housing both the casino and sea baths). Subsequently, the cities of Saint-Malo in 1839, Trouville in 1845, and Pornic in 1853 successively established the first casinos in France.

While more casino projects appeared in seaside and thermal cities, gaming houses in Paris were closed in 1837.

The law of June 15, 1907, regulating gambling in circles and casinos in seaside, thermal and climatic resorts, reserved these establishments for an affluent clientele "enjoying time freed from work constraints while preventing the more modest from squandering their moral and industrious capital." The 1919 law prohibited games of chance within a 100 km radius around Paris but extended the 1907 authorizations to tourist resorts. The law of March 31, 1931, authorized thermal resorts located less than 100 km from Paris to have a casino, allowing the reopening of the Enghien-les-Bains casino, located about twenty km from the capital.