William Hill halts US gaming

LONDON - British bookmaker William Hill said today it had stopped its gaming business in the United States, pending clarification of the scope and enforceability of state and federal gaming laws.

William Hill said it had taken steps to stop accepting casino and poker business from clients with a US address or U.S.-issued credit card, the same as steps already in place to prevent internet betting on sports events by US residents.

This year has seen the arrests in the United States of Sportingbet's chairman on charges of "gambling by computer" and BETonSPORTS' then chief executive on racketeering charges.

Costa Rica-based BETonSPORTS subsequently said it is closing its US business, and the arrests added to fears of a US crackdown on the online gambling industry.

Shares across the sector have taken a series of knocks since July as some US politicians seek to ban internet gambling there and as US and European authorities also target executives from Austria's Bwin.com.

William Hill shares were down 0.3 per cent at 644 pence by 1:00 p.m., valuing the group at around 2.3 billion pounds.

Sportingbet was down 3.4 per cent at 173-1/2p, PartyGaming was down 1.2 per cent at 99-1/4p and Bwin was up 2.2 per cent at 20.8 euros.

- REUTERS