Party Poker to cease operations to U.S. customers once Bush signs Bill

Please delete this if it's already been stated

http://www.londonstockexchange.com/LSECWS/IFSPages/MarketNewsPopup.aspx?id=1308926&source=RNS

After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming's online gaming sites for the Group's US Bonus Play customers will be unaffected. Access for all of PartyGaming’s non-US customers will also be unaffected.



PokerStars has also told sources they will pull out of the U.S. market as well once the bill is signed

Anyone know when this will be signed into law? Will they still let me withdraw the money in my account to Neteller?

Johnny B said:

Anyone know when this will be signed into law? Will they still let me withdraw the money in my account to Neteller?

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He could sign it as early as Wednesday, likely two weeks

I assume they'll send the funds however you want them when it happens...but if you have money in there now, I'd take it out

Now party poker and pokerstars too.

So much for everyone who said this would have no effect.

Neteller sounds like they will cave as well from what I read in their newest statement. I knew that people where being way to complacent about this.

However, now they have pissed off the mainstream poker players that didn;t even know they passed this crap. NOW I can honestly say I see some serious BACKLASH coming as people who had no idea about any of this are suddenly told the Congress banned them from playing poker quietly in the dead of night.

ZZZSpeedster said:

...but if you have money in there now, I'd take it out

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Will be doing so shortly before I go to bed... It's times like these I'm glad I didn't drop out of college to play professionally...

:cryingcry

Omni said:

However, now they have pissed off the mainstream poker players that didn;t even know they passed this crap. NOW I can honestly say I see some serious BACKLASH coming as people who had no idea about any of this are suddenly told the Congress banned them from playing poker quietly in the dead of night.

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I think you have a good point.

Actually, I take a little of that back.

From what I read from the Poker playing groups/lobby, all they want is a separate exemption for Poker and not the elimination of the law. They sound like they couldn't give a damn about people who bet on sports.

Are they nuts? How does a company that generates over half its profit and virtually all of its notoriety decide it will just cease doing business there? This is like a porn producer deciding he will stop doing sex scenes and just do makeout movies from now on.

It all doesn't make any sense whatsoever so I am not buying it for a minute. Maybe this is a make nice statement hoping to appease someone, but it makes zero sense for them and Pokerstars to follow through.

Sheesh I go on vacation for less than 3 weeks and the world is going to crap. Port security bills become anti-gambling bills with enough holes in it to make Swiss cheese envious. But truth is best to laugh and take the Mexican attitude to heart. On the news that the Senate was approving a bill to build a fence on the border the Mexican news reporter asked a guy who said he was about to cross the border illegally for the 6th time what he would do. The guy replied "I stopped walking across the desert 4 years ago". Sure enough the same reporter went into the US 2 days later and interviewed the guy eating lunch in Tennessee. The guy says "hey if they build a fence 3 meters high, some guy will build ladders 3.5 meters high". Does anyone think us gamblers and those who serve us will do anything different.

US moves to stop online gaming

David Teather
Monday October 2, 2006
The Guardian

Most forms of online gambling look certain to be banned in the United States after a last-minute deal in Washington sneaked legislation through on the back of an unrelated bill on maritime and port security.

The new law will make it illegal for American banks and credit card companies to process payments to online gaming companies.

The 11th-hour manoeuvring that reached into Saturday morning before congress broke for mid-term elections is a devastating and unexpected blow for the online gaming industry. An effort led by the Republican senator Bill Frist had appeared to stall after he failed to attach the measure to a bill authorising ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Article continues
Shares in online gaming firms, many of which are listed in London, are likely to suffer a mauling when markets open for trading today. PartyGaming, which floated on the London Stock Exchange last year, relies on the US for 85% of its revenue.

Politicians in the US have been attempting to ban online gaming for more than a decade. The present legal framework was drawn up to cover telephone betting in the 1960s and the position of online gambling has been far from clear. The bill now only needs the approval of president George Bush, who is expected to sign it into law on November 7.

Democrats accused Republicans of pushing the legislation to bolster popularity among conservative voters. Michael Bolcerek of the Poker Players Alliance in the US said the legislation "reeks of political gamesmanship".

Several states have begun a crackdown on internet gaming. In July David Carruthers, then BetonSports chief executive, was arrested at Dallas airport on charges of racketeering, fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty. Peter Dicks, the former chairman of Sportingbet, was set free on Friday after New York state governor George Pataki refused to order his extradition to Louisiana.


Wow. 85% of their revenue, and they are folding without even a fight?!!!! WTF?!!!

Worlds Largest Gambling Company PartyGaming no longer accepting US customers

After taking extensive legal advice, the Board of PartyGaming Plc has concluded that the new legislation, if signed into law, will make it practically impossible to provide US residents with access to its real money poker and other real money gaming sites. As a result of this development, the Board of PartyGaming has determined that if the President signs the Act into law, the Company will suspend all real money gaming business with US residents, and such suspension will continue indefinitely, subject to clarification of the interpretation and enforcement of US law and the impact on financial institutions of this and other related legislation. Access to PartyGaming's online gaming sites for the Group's US Bonus Play customers will be unaffected.

Access for all of PartyGaming's non-US customers will also be unaffected.

The Group's strategic focus remains on developing its existing markets outside of the US and on developing new markets and products. Should activities in the US be suspended, the Directors will also seek to re-align the Group's cost base to accommodate the changed business environment. However, any such suspension would also result in the Group's financial performance falling significantly short of consensus forecasts for 2006 and 2007.

Mitch Garber, Chief Executive Officer of PartyGaming, said:

"This development is a significant setback for our company, our shareholders, our players and our industry. While US horse race betting, state lotteries, fantasy contests and certain other online gaming activities have been exclusively protected under the new law, we are disappointed that the popularity and skill of poker in particular have not also been specifically protected. The Board respects the laws of the US Government, and will continue to analyse their applicability, but also continues to believe that a regulatory framework for online gaming, including poker and casino gaming is the only sustainable long term solution.

"We have a substantial gaming business outside the US, one that is highly
profitable and growing rapidly on one of the most technologically advanced
platforms available. In the first half of 2006 our non-US business generated revenues of $150 million, a 151% increase over the comparable period in the previous year. Gaming on the internet is already a popular form of entertainment for millions of adults and we will continue to expand our business into new territories, offering fun, responsible and friendly competition in a safe and secure environment for customers around the world. PartyGaming is by far the largest online gaming company in terms of non-US business and liquidity and we intend to focus on and increase our advantage in that area."

A further update will be provided with the Q3 KPIs on 20 October 2006.

BRANDS

PartyPoker.com, PartyCasino.com, PartyGammon.com and PartyBingo.com

this will increase the traffic to non-publicy traded poker rooms

So you think only PartyGaming will react this way, for others it will be business as usual?

Massive phone calls to Senator Frist Office in DC: Telling him how you are going to work very hard to see that he is not re-elected to office may bring some attention so President Bush won't sign this and send the bill back to Congress to remove the anti gambling language.

Calls all day and all night to his office: Let the phone never stop . Be brief and to the point so the next call can get through.

It's the best hope.

My guess is that the publicly traded gaming companies are trying to mitigate the downside in their share valuation by trying to be proactive in this matter. Not sure that anyone is buying this, since the UK listed firms are getting hammered with share prices down 40 to 50%.

This could also be something of a calculated move--with poker being so trendy and so many new poker players coming into the game over the past few years this could be an effort to dredge up some public outcry: the gaming companies cut off US poker players, which will (hopefully) piss them off and get them calling their elected officials.

Bottom line--I think after the initial hit to the publicly traded firms we'll quickly be back to business as usual. The US market is far too lucrative, and the privately held gaming companies will find a way to serve it.

They need PartyLotteries.com and PartyHorses.com!

Whoson1st said:

Massive phone calls to Senator Frist Office in DC: Telling him how you are going to work very hard to see that he is not re-elected to office may bring some attention so President Bush won't sign this and send the bill back to Congress to remove the anti gambling language.

Calls all day and all night to his office: Let the phone never stop . Be brief and to the point so the next call can get through.

It's the best hope.

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Frist could give a flying f*ck about a threat to his re-election since he's retiring at the end of his current term.

Whoson1st has the right idea but the wrong target--a better strategy would be to find your local Republican Congressman or Senator that's up for election during this cycle. Tell them that Frist's sneak job on this issue has prompted you to pull the lever for their Democratic opponent. There was a big article on the Wall Street Journal website about how Congress killed a provision in the port security legislation that would have *really* strengthened port security by barring convicted felons from working in sensitive port jobs and mandating background checks for employees.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110009027

Tell them you're livid that Frist, the Republicans and, by association, your local Congressman/Senator is too busy carrying water for the religious right to actually worry about port security. They're really worried about the Foley scandal right now (the Congressman that was busted trolling for 16 year old male pages online), so if you're feeling creative talk about how Frist sneaking the gambling stuff into the port bill is the same sort of hypocrisy.

Also, the White House has a comment line ([FONT=arial, helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, Sans Serif]202-456-1111)[/FONT][/FONT]. You could call and leave some comment to the above effect there. Be respectful, don't make any threats of violence unless you want a visit from the FBI. Bush clearly could care less about his public approval ratings, so targeting your local GOP elected officials would be more effective IMO.

From a practical standpoint, this legislation is completely irrelevant IMO. The marketplace will work around it, the banking lobby could very likely kill it on their own, and while it might not be as easy to move money to offshore books it'll still be possible.

From a philosophical standpoint, however, its important to make our voices heard. I'm a Libertarian, so I dislike both major political parties but the only thing that politicians understand is a threat to their power. If your local Congressman thinks that his cushy ride is at risk over this (or any other) issue you'll see action. Ultimately, I'm not convinced that the Democrats are any friendlier to the sports bettor than the Republican but they certainly can't be any *worse* than the current bunch. Plus, they're not beholden to the Religious Right.

So make some noise on this--and hopefully there will be enough pissed off poker players joining us to make a difference ; )

Not sure how i'm going to pay tuitition anymore. This sucks.

this is brutal!!!! I reallly hope this isnt a sign of things to come.