AUTHOR: Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
TITLE: Online Poker Sites Stock Plummet
DATE: 10:21 AM
-----
BODY:
<p class="mobile-post">Today was Black Monday for publicly traded online poker sites thanks to the
backdoor move performed by proponents of a bill designed to stop online
gambling in the United States. The politicians consider poker a form of
gambling. Congress pass an act to improve port security, but Senate Majority
Leader Bill Frist helped get a bill that would try to stop financial
transactions between American financial institution and online gambling
sites. The act was overwhelmingly passed. PartyGaming, which announced it
will stop doing business with Americans if the President signs the bill into
a law, lost almost 60-percent of its stock value. Prices fell from 107 pence
to 45 pence today. 888 Holdings made nearly the same announcement as
PartyGaming today, and its shares fell from 146.5 pence to 108.25.
Sportingbet, the company that owns Paradise Poker, saw its shares fall from
174.25 pence to 66. Neteller, the third-party banking company that allows
people to transfer money online, saw its shares fall from 345 pence to 140
pence. The bill is designed to target financial institutions that work with
online gambling companies, something Neteller does. The company does
business with more than 3,500 online companies and processed $7.3 billion in
2005. In a company statement, Neteller said it needs more time to determine
what kind of action to take in lieu of this new development.</p>
--------