The enormous success of online poker, casinos and sports betting has helped on the growth of a multi-billion dollar worldwide industry.

Gaming firms have brought prosperity to Gibraltar citizens, making economy grow and producing hundreds of jobs. However, the situation has suffered a serious halt with the new US online gambling laws. Almost half of the $6 billion a year spent on poker tables and other online gambling games came from the US.

PartyGaming, based in Gibraltar, was one of the worst affected. In the first half of 2006, 77% of their income came from US gamblers. PartyGaming's share price dropped 58% the day after President Bush signed the SAFE Port Act into law.

On November 6th the company announced that it would cut up 20% of its Gibraltar-based employees, nowhere near the net loss of revenue resulting of the bill.

Times may be tough for online Gaming but there are still reasons for this industry to remain optimistic. Online Gaming continues to grow with unexploited markets in Asia and South America.

No matter what happens in the US or anywhere else, Gibraltar must remain resilient, aiming to strengthen its position as one of the leading centers of Online Gaming.