The online gambling market in Europe still shaky

As some countries in the E.U. are moving steadily towards online gambling regulation, others are trying to save their state monopolies.

After the former chief executive of 888 Holding was called by the French authorities the other day, Party gambling announced today that it has closed their French website. The investors were not notified for this decision prior, but one shareholder did unload around $100 million worth of their stock. The French government has been putting pressure on online gambling executives for a while, which could only be explained with the fact that the gambling monopolies in French, PMU and Francaise de Jeux, are controlled by the French government and the online gambling companies are dipping in their honey bucket. A classic example was the ban the French government imposed on online gambling advertisement on football club shirts.

On the same note - one of the most popular online betting websites, Bwin, closed down their Turkish website, after the anti online gambling bill passed the Turkish parliament on the 28th. According to Bwin spokesman, the closure of the business oriented towards Turkey would cost about $24 million per year in lost revenues. The new law left a door open for issuing of licenses in the future, and Bwin decided that if they continue to operate in Turkey, a future license may not be granted.