The situation in the US has caused VIP.com, BetGameDay.com, Nine.com and EnglishHarbour.com to stop operating as from the 1st of August 2011.
Statements on the various websites confirm this and on Nine.com, the statement to players reads as follows:
“We will be closing on August 1st
We recommend that you play out your balance or request a payout prior to August 1st. In the event that you have any questions please contact customer support. We would like to thank you for your loyalty through the years.”
The sportsbooks have been around since 1997 and have been primarily targeted to the US market. Back on the 15th of April this year, Black Friday occurred in which Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker were indicted by the US Department of Justice. 11 defendants from the companies were charged with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses.
Furthermore, a few US facing operations have shut in light of the Black Friday situation. The US DoJ also indicted more US facing gambling sites such as Bookmaker.com, DoylesRoom.com and BetEd.com.
The group who run Nine.com, VIP.com and BetGameDay.com, also run brands such as Millionaire Casino, VIP Slots, Slots Galore, Silver Dollar Casino, Super Slots, Caribbean Gold Casino and English Harbour Casino. All these brands will cease operating as of the 1st of August 2011 too.
Saying this, the group will operate a UK facing operation in the form of EnglishHarbour.co.uk which is strictly for UK players only. This strongly suggests and more or less confirms that the company has been affected by the situation is the US.