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In the weeks prior to Congress' ban on online gambling, which passed in early October, the top two gambling sites on the Net saw huge spikes in US visitor traffic, according to comScore.

As Congress was ushering in the New Age of the Violent Bookie, Americans were filing en masse to the gambling sites to gather their bets whilst they may.

Overall, Online Gambling was the top gaining category in September, among others like television, sports, and news, posting a 17-percent gain versus August.

PartyGaming was the big winner in the great-over-legislation spill-over, reporting a 75 percent increase in US visitor traffic to 10.9 million. SportingBet PLC scored the second largest increase, attracting 5.4 million US visitors, an increase of 194 percent.

"Congress' move to outlaw online gambling comes at the prime time for football season, as people around the country are placing bets on their favorite teams," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.

"As speculation continues about the future of these online gambling sites, fans will very likely continue to turn to fantasy games on traditional sports Web sites, which also saw big increases last month."

Numbers have not yet been released on the number of former Internet gamblers, as they phone in their bets to their new buddy the bookie, that are wondering what happened to their so-called "free" country.

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