Gambling911.com has learned from its sources out of Washington that online gambling operators are being permitted to travel back to the United States with "immunity" under certain conditions.  It was unclear Friday whether this only applied to specific firms.  Gambling911 was in the process of obtaining the "welcome back" list.

The news comes in conjunction with reports that PartyGaming stocks have risen well over 10 percent Friday on news of settlement talks with the US Government.  This was the biggest rise in Party's shares since August.

As previously reported on Gambling911.com over the past few weeks, the US Government and PartyGaming executives were said to be "very close" to settling in regard to their online poker operation accepting customers from the United States. 

An agreement would eliminate the possibility of U.S. authorities taking retrospective action against the company in relation to its activities in the United States prior to legislation being passed in October 2006 which effectively outlawed the industry.

"I'm led to believe that they may have come to an agreement in the U.S. It means they would have no more outstanding issues with the authorities which would put them in the position where they could be bid for," said one London trader.

Details of a potential settlement agreement emerged last month with stipulations that included successive jail time and steep fines.

"They (the principals in PartyGaming) will not reach an agreement if jail time is part of the condition," a source told Gambling911.

Shareholders have been in constant contact with G911, suggesting that the abrupt departure of former CEO Mitch Garber could signal some type of "settlement".

"We believe his (Garber's) sudden departure has strong implications," one shareholder stated. 

Meanwhile, rival Sportingbet's shares hit a 52-week low following the arrests of two middle managers in Turkey on Thursday related to that country's Internet gambling laws.

The middle-management staff, who Sportingbet declined to name, are Turkish nationals. They were in Turkey on holiday and were detained by police in Istanbul in a raid which is believed to have led to about 30 people being detained. The pair were not together when detained.

Sportingbet said the detentions "related to Superbahis", its Turkish facing business, and was "aware that individuals related to Maslin Properties Ltd, the group's ex-marketing partner in the region" had also been held. It said it had "received no formal clarification of events from the Turkish authorities".

Sportingbet's chief executive Andrew McIver said the group's interpretation of the new laws was that it could continue taking bets as long as it had no assets or operations in Turkey. The group's computer processing is in Guernsey and customer support in Dublin.

''Turkish law seeks to make it illegal to be based anywhere in the world. Our interpretation is that Turkish law ends at the Turkish border," Mr McIver said.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published May 30, 2008 9:41 am EST