It appears the decision by U.S. lawmakers to engage a ban on the online casino gaming industry is so far causing more of a global economic shift, rather than an uplifting of family values as the bill's legislators and right wing religious supporters say is the source of its inception. Many would disagree and cite the numerous carve outs found in the legislation for the horse racing, fantasy sports betting and professional sports industries and say the bill's inception was driven by more political interests than anything else. Considering there is no enforcement framework specifically aimed at the bettors themselves, but rather at the online casino operators and payment processors who handle the financial transactions taking place between the cashier and players, it appears that the latter is the case.

The latest repercussion to arise in the wake of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act is coming from Down Under, where Australia-based Lasseters online casino has announced they will be conducting a drastic layoff - the scope of which is not even given justice by the word "drastic". Over half of Lasseters staff, in fact, is expected to be let go in the coming days. The Australian Stock Exchange listed corporation currently employs a staff of forty between their two facilities located in Brisbane and Alice Springs. Their customer care operations in Brisbane have already been shut down and integrated into Lasseters' 24/7 MIS Operations facility in Alice Springs.

Being the world's first government regulated online casino, in business since 1999, Lasseters had become one of the most successful online casinos around the world. They were extraordinarily popular with U.S. players - so much so that 70% of Lasseters business came from its U.S. facing operations. Now with a 70% loss in global revenue (you do the math), Lasseters has no other choice but to cut back its current operations and reassess their place in the online gambling industry. Further compounding Lasseters loss were major startup costs associated with their recently planned online sportsbook.

The Lasseter's Board is set to hold their annual general meeting next week, during which time discussions will take place to review their current operations and future business strategies. Lasseters released a European facing site a couple of years ago, which the company says they will use to further consolidate their operations. They are also upgrading their software platform used by all of their online casinos.

Lasseters made the decision to close all U.S. based accounts on October 16, 2006 - shortly after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Since that time, the online gambling industry has been shifting every day, based on yet another company's decision to leave the market. And while there are some companies defiantly staying in, doing their best to supply a demand that remains just as strong, many gaming analysts are predicting the U.S. ban will cut the value of the $10 billion global online gambling industry in half. Thousands of jobs have already been lost due to the pulling out of Party Gaming, Cryptologic and 888, and the addition of Lasseters Online Casino to these ranks only compounds the problem further.