Gambling Firms See Shares Plunge

[joeyconcrete]

Shares of online gaming firms have plunged after the US Congress passed a bill cracking down on internet gambling, threatening their business.

 

Shares in Partygaming were down 55% in afternoon London trade, while shares in 888 Holdings tumbled by more than 30%.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5397920.stm

 

Erk that doesn't sound too good! Surely this will have an affect on the local companies setting up shop, or is the US not the largest market (Although its a frickin big market!)?

[keith lard]

i was reading today partypoker and 888 get half their revenue from the US. but i dont think they're involved over here, although i could be wrong

 

i guess microgaming will be hit, although 1 of their big clients ladbrokes don't allow US residents anyway.

 

the only other 1 i can think off is pokerstars, i think they'll be hit hard as i think they're pretty big over the pond

[stookie]

There's always Betinternet - don't know what US business they do.

[Juan Kerr]

Idiots will always be parted from their money, and people in the "know" will always find a way of making money out of Joe public.

 

The whole industry is a dead-cert long-term. They have just gone through a lucky bubble as every e-business idea seems to do. These things are cyclical - non of these companies planned to be in the market long term - they understand odds and markets better than anyone else.

 

They took the VC money as they were the next "new thing" rode the market, and most of the guys who set the businesses up nicely diversified their exposure and walked off with pots of cash hanging out of their arse pockets. Nice work if you can get it. Just don't go to Florida on holiday.

 

Now you have bored cleaners with ten grand credit card debts run up because they have no social life on one side, and billionaires on the other.

[Amadeus]

Wow - the US calls it the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" - I'd rather call it the "Keep the Dollars in our Country Act" - another ill thought of piece of legislation - great stuff..

 

I tend to agree with Chopley on this, not at least because I work in the industry: In the long run, things will work out, and this industry has always been at the forefront of things, and been able to adapt quickly to changes. And don't forget: The US may have a few gamblers, but the real money lies in Asia....

[manxchatterbox]

and local firm Neteller has taken quite a hit too on its share price down 60%!!

:-

 

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html...mp;x=14&y=8

 

 

..but as its a money transfer business perhaps there will be a buyer - paypal or a banking type institution - are the shares worth a punt at the current price???

[stookie]

The Yanks really are stupid a lot of the time! Have they not learnt prohibition doesn't work? And talk about a double standard - Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and an internet gambling ban

[Lonan3]

From today's Guardian:

Place your bets!

 

Religious organisations are the main opponents of internet betting. But their stance is backed by more secular interests, such as America's horseracing authorities, which want an effective monopoly on racetrack betting, and sports bodies such as the National Football League and the National Basketball Association, which fear that bribery and corruption could become endemic if their contests are the subject of multimillion dollar wagers.

Frank Catania, a gaming consultant, described it as the "sneakiest way possible", adding: "This is the Christian conservatives and rightwing Republicans who want to impose their moral beliefs on the rest of the country."

Questions persist over how effectively the legislation can be policed. Lawrence Walters, a Florida lawyer specialising in gaming law, said: "The legislation is poorly drafted and I don't believe it accomplishes what the government sought to accomplish."

The law requires financial institutions to track and cancel online betting transactions. But gamblers are already turning to creative payment methods which pass under the radar, including the use of phonecard credits.

Experts do believe the US business will be reduced in scale and big companies will need to exit, leaving it to relatively unregulated niche operators.

 

Not being a gambler, it doesn't affect me at all, but I still don't like the attempt to portray such a measure as claiming some sort of moral high ground.

[Amadeus]

Full Text of the Port Security Bill (PDF)

 

Comments and Analysis by I. Nelson Rose, Author of "Gambling And The Law" and general gaming law guru

 

and local firm Neteller has taken quite a hit too on its share price down 60%!!...words...

MCB: read through the analysis by that law fella - he mentions Neteller and the Isle of Man, and possible scenarios - summary seems to be: the whole thing wasn't really studied or worked out properly, was rushed through as quick as possible, and doesn't really make sense, as this quote from it proves:

 

“no provision of this subchapter shall be construed as authorizing” anyone “to institute proceedings to prevent or restrain a restricted transaction against any financial transaction provider, to the extent that the person is acting as a financial transaction provider.”

 

Shame all our "head of e-gaming development" could come up with was a pretty meaningless statement on the radio - maybe that was down to editing (only heard the short clip on MR website), but I would have expected a better explanation for the Island's position and view on this...

[Juan Kerr]

Wow - the US calls it the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act" - I'd rather call it the "Keep the Dollars in our Country Act" - another ill thought of piece of legislation - great stuff..

 

I wonder - as someone who has put forward his intention to stand as MHK - how the voting public view your support of the e-gambling industry and your criticism of the head of e-gaming. I quote:

 

Shame all our "head of e-gaming development" could come up with was a pretty meaningless statement on the radio - I would have expected a better explanation for the Island's position and view on this...

 

Most average Manx people might not care less about the industry, and might be inclined to agree on moral grounds that an industry that gets fat from the more vulnerable in society, whilst facilitating an increasingly unregulated system of "entertainment providers" and allegations of match fixing on a collosal scale is not something the Island should be largely reliant on.

 

I would bet most people you speak to whilst canvassing, might be surprised at the moral high ground you seem to occupy in relation to your support of this industry.

 

It is no co-incidence that these sort of laws are going through at a time of high profile investigations into alleged match fixing syndicates in football, cricket, baseball, horse racing etc on a global basis as gambling in all its forms is being shown to be less than whiter than white and tainted with the image that you can't believe anything you see on TV anymore.

 

You seem to believe that the system is whiter-than-white, which suggests naivity on your behalf when there is a "bung" or match fixing crisis in the papers every other day. I'm not suggesting that these companies breed these things, but they make them easier to pull off in many cases.