July 19, 2006

Big Online Casino Bust in Missouri

It seems that the crackdown on online casinos has begun, at least for BentonSports PLC.
ABC News has reported that a massive indictment has come down against BentonSports and its proprietors.

Internet gambling was dealt a major blow today when a federal grand jury returned a 22-count indictment against 11 people and four corporations on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, the Department of Justice announced.
Among those charged was one of the Web's most popular gambling destinations, BetonSports PLC, which owns several Internet casinos and sportsbooks, and the founder of BetonSports.com, Gary Stephen Kaplan, as well as BetonSports.com CEO David Carruthers..

The article goes on further to state

According to industry analysts, almost of the more than $10 billion that is wagers placed online each year comes from bettors in the United States. In 2003 the Justice Department estimated that 1,800 such sites generated about $4.2 billion in wagers. Last week, the House of Representatives passed an online gambling bill which would bar credit card companies from making payments to online gambling websites.

Clearly it seems that the state of the online casino is in flux. We will watch and wait to see how it all turns out.

The ABC News article