Turkish legislators passed a law on February 28 that forbids online gambling services to be offered by any 'unauthorised' domestic or foreign company to citizens in Turkey. Like the United States passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which was designed to protect online state lotteries and horse betting, the Turkish law is designed to protect its partially state-owned gaming company IDDAA.

Several companies have already reacted. Austria-based Bwin, whose Ongame e-solutions includes PokerRoom.com, has already suspended business activities in Turkey. Since Turkey represents 6 per cent of Bwin's gross gaming revenues, the hiatus will cost Bwin a 25-20 million Euro drop in gross gaming revenues per year.

Swedish public company Betsson, is parent to BetssonPoker, CherryPoker and CasinoEuroPoker. Turkey represents 20 percent of Betsson Online's revenues and 15 percent of its subsidiary Net Entertainment's revenues. Betsson issued a statement quoting CEO Pontus Lingwall as saying, "We hope the legislation can be positive to us. Protectionistic legislation has shown to be of our advantage, and I believe it is applicable to this case as well. We are in the middle of a phase of strong growth, where the first quarter has started out fantastic. The underlying growth of online gaming will not be threatened by individual countries' actions."

Though the Turkish law's long-winded title is "Law for amending certain articles of the law on bookmaking organisation concerning football contests", the new legislation has sharp teeth, with fines up to between two and five years imprisonment to "anyone involved in enabling access, promotion or operation of sites offering egaming products to Turkish nationals."

Since Turkey is about to enter the European Union (EU), some observers point out that banning foreign companies may not be a good move for Turkey because the European Union promotes policies of free movement of trade and services between member states. They wishfully suggest Turkey might be pressured to change its law. But litigation has raged among several European Union nations who object to such free movement, notably Germany and France who arrested two Bwin executives last fall.

Another tactic is being used by Bwin. Reuters reported that Bwin is investigating the possibility of becoming licensed in Turkey in the future, though Turkey has not explicitly mentioned any possibility at this time.

Calvin Ayre was looking for a sunny beach front paradise to move his ever expanding Bodog Nation and he found the perfect fit in Antigua. Back in 2002 as I was driven in a black Hummer through the mountain road up above the Costa Rican town of Santa Ana, Calvin told me the story of how he just wanted to “run a business in a warm climate near the beach” when he first started in the online gambling industry. Once Bodog.com finalized the purchase of Antiguan based BetCorp PLC's assets back in November 2006, another part of the Bodog puzzle fell into place.

"Antigua is one of the strongest places in the world to operate an online gaming company," stated Calvin Ayre, CEO of Bodog Entertainment Group. "You get a Federal Gaming License that is as strongly regulated as anything that exists anywhere else in the world including Europe and Canada and it has been recently (again) endorsed by the World Trade Organization."

Ayre went on to say that "Antigua is not going to license everyone. Antigua & Barbuda is going to be more selective after recent developments to ensure there is competent management."

The Antiguan Director of Gaming Kaye McDonald echoed these sentiments recently when she said the jurisdiction will be focusing on tightening control of the Internet gambling industry. The BETonSPORTS fiasco had a lot to do with this new found desire to clean up the gaming regulations on the island. McDonald even raised the possibility that some operators may see their licenses suspended. Over the coming months, the Directorate of Gaming will be conducting an extensive review of the existing regulations in Antigua.

“For us in the Division of Gaming, it’s not about having a multitude of licensees in the jurisdiction. We’re looking for premium operators so, therefore, you may see that there might be a downward trend, because as we try to ensure that we have operators that will operate within our laws and regulations and best practices and good corporate governance, we certainly would take remedial action,” commented McDonald to the Antiguan Sun on February 28th, 2007.

The online gambling dispute with the United States has cost the government of Antigua & Barbuda millions of dollars acknowledged Minister of Finance and the Economy Dr. Errol Cort. The industry current employs less than 600 but once employed more than 1,000 workers in Antigua. Now Antigua has financially healthy Bodog.com, the most recognizable brand in the industry as a licensee.

Back in December 2006, Bodog's top management moved the corporate headquarters to Antigua as well as its administration and accounting departments for the company's many business channels including Music and TV. Ayre’s vast digital empire is going to have a significant economic impact to the island both in and outside of the gaming sector.

Many operators are looking to expand internationally after President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act into law in October 2006. UIGEA makes it illegal for financial institutions to knowingly process online gambling transactions. Antigua & Barbuda is trying to bring the country into compliance with UK criteria so that it can make representation as a jurisdiction offering online gambling, to be recognized as a European Economic Area. McDonald said this was important as operators seek to diversify into the European market.

"With only a 4 hour time difference to the UK its a great place to run our customer service as we execute on our current business plan of increasing our European business in 2007" commented Ayre. "Banks will easily open accounts for you, the government is your friend and its beautiful and safe with essentially no crime. Telecom has been recently deregulated giving you more choices than just Cable and Wireless and at reduced rates and the local level of technical sophistication is first world level. Why would anyone operate anywhere else?"

While Bodog Nation invades Europe, the entire online gambling industry hopes that the EU will help to pressure the United States to open its markets to international online gambling companies or face trade sanctions. Europe is going to be “slow to mobilize” against the United States. While the European Trade Commission tries to spread the legalization of online gambling throughout the Union, countries like France have outlawed the practice. I guess there was some betting backlash in France after losing to Italy in the 2006 World Cup.