William Hill Shuts Down Australia Website: May be Trying to Appease Nevada Regulators

England’s largest bookmaker, William Hill, has shut down its Australian website this week as a means of protecting its pending application for a Nevada Gaming license.

William Hill has thus far faced an uphill battle in its efforts to get its 2011 purchases of American Wagering, Brandywine Gaming and Cal-Neva sports wagering businesses approved with regulators. 

Back in March, GamingToday.com reported:

The growing heat from speculation may have inspired the Control Board’s apparent decision to drop a curtain of secrecy over its continuing work on the Hill deal.

Hill emailed Australian customers on Monday.

Please be advised that we have taken the decision to withdraw our sports betting service for any customer registered in Australia" and asked its Australian customers to request account withdrawals from the cashier through the "My Account" section of the website.

Australia's Interactive Gaming Act of 2001 makes it illegal for any company to provide casino and poker games to Australian residents.

David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, told the Las Vegas Review Journal that pulling out of Australia might be connected with the company's desire to do business in Nevada, where failure to comply with laws elsewhere could jeopardize a license.

"Clearly this is a priority for them, Nevada," Schwartz said.

Nevada regulators concerns seem to center on William Hill’s heavy Internet reliance on Playtech.

The online gambling software giant’s founder, Teddy Sagi, was once charged with bribery and fraud in 1996.  He served nine months in prison.

Regulators were also reviewing what transpired last year when Hill officials were locked out of its Playtech affiliated Tel Aviv offices and prevented from accessing computer data.    

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com