Online gambling stocks in the UK rose yesterday, despite the House of Representatives passing an anti-online gambling bill this week.
Partygaming increased nearly 5% whilst Sportingbet saw an increase of nearly 3%. Both companies are highly US-focused with US players forming a large percentage of their customer-base.
The Goodlatte-Leach sponsored bill would block most forms of online gambling – but noticeably includes a caveat that excludes state lotteries and horse racing. These exclusions have been argued as 'anti-competitive'.
Also causing the upswing is the suggestion that its unlikely the bill has time to get through the senate before mid-term elections – 2 previous attempts at similar bills have also never made it through
But the best part is Goodlatte calling online gambling "offshore, fly-by-night internet gambling operators are unlicensed, untaxed and unregulated and are sucking billions of dollars out of the United States"
Tell that to highly regulatory countries such as Gibraltar, Aldernay and soon to be- UK – as well as billion dollar 'fly by nights' such as Partygaming and 888.com.
The White House, which would ultimately have to approve the bill if it is passed by the Senate, issued a short policy statement after the bill was passed by the House of Representatives describing it as "important" but adding that the administration nevertheless had "some concerns" with it.
Article: Online gambling firms fly in face of Congress's censure