888 Holdings, one of the biggest companies in the $12bn online gambling industry, is expected to suspend indefinitely business from US customers on Monday, according to a report in the Financial Times of London.

The US Congress passed a bill during the late night hours of Friday that would restrict online gambling via banking instruments, though the financial sector has already insisted there is little they can do to police such transactions. 

People close to 888 said they believed the company would issue a statement to the London Stock Exchange accepting that the passing of the bill in the US Senate on Friday would have a "material" detrimental impact on its business, according to the report.

888 is the parent company of Pacific Poker.

The online gambling industry is bracing for i-gaming stocks to be in turmoil much of Monday following the weekend's news.  Most of the sector companies that trade on the London Stock Exchange rely heavily on the US market, including PartyGaming, whose US market is estimated to be more than 80%.

"The provision does not ban online gambling," insisted one online gambling industry expert and attorney who wished not to be identified.  "There are restrictions that are not imposed on the gamblers themselves."

The bill attempts to make the use of credit cards, eChecks and bank wires more difficult for the purposes of online gambling within the next 270 days.  A time limit has been placed on the bill to ensure banks can set up a system of compliance, which is currently not in place and may never be.

PartyGaming, the biggest online gambling company, said it was "evaluating the situation" and was expected to issue a statement on Monday.

SportingBet – whose former chairman Peter Dicks returned to the UK on Saturday after a New York court refused to extradite him to Louisiana, where he faced a charge of "gambling by computer" – was believed to be preparing a statement for the stock exchange, but is expected to wait to assess the impact of the bill, according to the Financial Times. 

888, which relies on the US for half its profits, was said to be in the process of deciding to make a clean break with the US, paying back gambling deposits paid by customers when they registered on the company's websites.

It's business as usual for most of the privately held sportsbooks, which view the passage of this bill as an opportunity eliminate some of the industry competition.  After BetonSports closed this past July, online sportsbooks reported a spike in signup that week from BoS customers looking for new places to play.  But according to Gambling911.com sources, some of the larger publicly traded firms and possibly some online gaming jurisdictions are expected to file legal action regarding the passage of this bill.

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Christopher Costigan, www.gambling911.com

Originally published October 1, 2006 6:46 pm ET