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PartyGaming Plc was once a force to be reckoned with in online casinos.  Although they are still a highly successful provider of popular sites like PartyPoker.com, they no longer hold nearly the same amount of influence over the online gambling scene as they did before the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act made it difficult for online casinos to operate effectively in the United States.

Prior to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, PartyGaming, based out of Gibraltar, held a 40 percent market share in online poker.  According John Shepherd, a PartyGaming spokesperson, the company has lost their first place standing and has slipped to fourth place with an 8 percent market share. 

When the United States law took affect and made it illegal for credit card companies to process transactions from online casinos, PartyGaming lost more than two thirds of its profits.  The company was once worth 6 billion pounds.  However there are many companies that take advantages of the loopholes in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act to continue providing online casinos and other Internet gambling services to American players. 

PartyGaming argues that they lose significant business to other operators that still solicit American players.

“America is perceived, rightly, as the home of poker,” said Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of Global Betting & Gaming Consultants.

“The Europeans like to play against the American players, so they gravitate to the companies actively recruiting players in the United States.”

According to PartyGaming Finance Director Martin Weigold, 4,000 new US players join the only 66,000 strong Partygaming US network each day.

“You can’t deposit money with us, and you can’t play with real money,” Shepherd said of the U.S. players.

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