Legal crackdown forces online bookmaker to bar US online bets
Thursday 28th September 2006
William Hill has stopped taking casino and poker bets from American punters in the latest setback to hit the online gambling industry.
William Hill said it had taken steps to stop accepting casino and poker business from clients with a U.S. address or U.S.-issued credit card, the same as steps already in place to prevent Internet betting on sports events by U.S. residents.
The group said it would only consider allowing American customers to play poker and casino games online once the law governing the issue had been clarified.
David Harding, chief executive of William Hill, believes that the impact of the decision would be minimal because US gamblers accounted for only 0.5 per cent of the company's online business.
Mr Harding said, 'Our legal advice was and is that it is legal to accept online poker and casino in the US, but with all the things that have been happening, we decided it was the prudent thing to do.'
William Hill has stopped taking casino and poker bets from American punters in the latest setback to hit the online gambling industry.