William Hill Ends US Gambling

16 July 2008

News> News Archive> 2006> September> William Hill Ends US Gambling

28 Sep 2006

William Hill, a British online bookmaker, recently announced that it will cease taking casino and poker bets from US customers due to the confusion produced regarding gambling laws over the Internet. The US 1961 Wire Act in America makes gambling online in the US strictly prohibited. In the interest of avoiding prosecution or a possible arrest of head executives, the gambling company has already put measures in place to prevent American gamers from logging onto its website and placing bets on sporting events.

'The advice we have had is that online gambling is not illegal under the Wire Act, but there are clearly attempts within the US to make it illegal. Given the debate in the Senate about changes to internet gambling, we just decided this was the most prudent course of action,' said David Harding, CEO of the online bookmaker. Mr. Harding explained the American gambling market accounted for 1 percent of the company's web revenues and just 0.1 percent of the firm's total turnover.

The gambling industry online has been shaken recently by the arrest of two high-profile executives who are both due to face trial in the US. This new trend is raising concerns among gambling operating executives, online casinos fans, and online gambling investors and shareholders. What the future will hold for online casinos fans in the US is still unknown. But the loss in revenue from blocking US gamers will be felt by William Hill and other operators who choose to ban Americans from placing bets at their online casinos.