Eagerly awaiting approval are the 14 online casino companies who've applied for a license to promote and operate their casinos compliant to the U.K. Gambling Act. The UK Gambling Commission will begin handling business for the British Gambling Industry on September 1st, and soon after these online casinos should know the status of their applications.

There will be certain restrictions imposed on those online casino companies as far as advertising goes and this may go in favor of casino such as William Hill, the Gala Group and several others. This also opens doors for other European Union countries by allowing them for the first time to advertise in Britain.

With the UK's views and actions regarding gambling online, it brings to the forefront the wide difference of views as related to those of the U.S. with the banning of financial transactions with online casinos and banking institutes located in the U.S., hoping to enforce a general ban on gambling online. A spokesman for the UK government is quoted as saying, "We aren't banning people from using Web sites based in the U.K. It is up to the consumer what they do.'' Online Casinos were hit by the U.S. decision as a huge portion of their revenue was generated from U.S. players.

Even with the U.S. views on online gambling, the UK Gambling Commission will not try to keep the licensed online casinos from targeting the U.S. market.