As expected, the Internet Gambling Prohibition is driving a lot of companies out of the field. From CBS News:
British-based online gaming companies began cashing in the chips of their U.S. operations Friday as President Bush signed a bill aimed at restricting Internet gambling in the United States.
Sportingbet PLC and Leisure & Gaming PLC both sold their U.S. operations for a token $1 while World Gaming PLC directors resigned, leaving the company in the hands of administrators.
Congress caught the gaming industry by surprise late last month when it included a provision in a bill aimed at improving port security that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to settle payments to online gambling sites.
The measures supporters include the National Football League as well as conservative and antigambling groups. Some banking groups lobbied against it.
U.S. residents account for about half of the estimated $15.5 billion in net win from wagering that operators of online betting sites were expected to generate this year, according to the betting research unit at Nottingham Business School. The total amount bet online is substantially higher, it said.
Analysts said the U.S. legislation is cleaving the industry in two. On one side are the London-based companies that are pulling out of the United States. On the other are private offshore companies located in the Caribbean that are still doing business with U.S. customers through third parties.
Online Gambling Knows When To Fold Em, Brit Betting Firms Sell U.S. Operations For $1 As Bush Signs Law Restricting Internet Gambling – CBS News
Many companies have announced their intentions to stay in the US market, but you’ve got to wonder how they’ll be able to accept cash from and pay winnings to players. Still, there gamblers are very inventive, so there are probably hundreds of alternate payment plans already circulating.