The justice department considers online gambling to be illegal. According to Party Gaming’s prospectus, 87% of its revenues come from Americans.
On Friday, a justice department spokeswoman said it was looking at a variety of options to clamp down on online gambling. “We could arrest and prosecute these people if they come back in to the country,” she said.
However, a spokesman for Party Gaming insisted that its executives would continue to travel to the US.
Despite the controversy, the Party Gaming float is said to be three times oversubscribed.
The Salvation Army will issue a report tomorrow to coincide with the float, warning people of the dangers of gambling on the internet. Online gambling can be highly addictive, and as more people log on it is likely the number of people addicted will rise dramatically, the report says.