William Hill and Littlewoods stop gaming business is U.S.

[mollila]

Two more operators close the doors on U.S. players.

U.S. ONLINE PLAYERS NO LONGER WELCOME AT WILL HILL "...this was the most prudent course of action," says chairman The prominent British bookmaker William Hill called a halt to its online gaming business in the United States this week, pending clarification of the scope and enforceability of state and federal gaming laws in that country. Company spokesmen said it had taken steps to stop accepting online casino and poker business from clients with a U.S. address or U.S.-issued credit card, following similar steps already taken earlier to prevent Internet betting on sports events by U.S. residents. Shares across the sector have taken a series of knocks since July as some U.S. politicians seek to ban Internet gambling and as U.S. and European authorities target executives from BetonSports, Sportingbet and Austria's Bwin.com. Chief executive David Harding said: ?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. ?We are small in the US and have never marketed ourselves in the states. It is just an outlet for US customers if they come across us on the internet.?

And from the Littlewoods Casino and Poker websites:

Prohibited Jurisdictions Littlewoods Poker does not currently accept deposits from residents of the United States and its territories. Residents of these countries are most welcome to play Littlwoods Poker for fun.