Online gaming has received an unlikely boost from the arrest of one of its most prominent advocates.

In a classic example of no publicity being bad publicity, it is claimed that record numbers of people are having a flutter via the internet since David Carruthers, then chief executive of BetonSports and a vocal supporter of the industry, was arrested on racketeering charges in the US on July 16th.

"After the whole BetonSports issue our bandwidth has gone up," said Michael Tobin, chief executive of Continent 8 Technologies, a company that provides internet infrastructure for seven of the top 10 online poker operators.

Continent 8 decided on Monday to pull its planned flotation on London's Aim market amid fears that the proceedings against Mr Carruthers marked the start of a sustained US crackdown on the industry.

Most online gaming companies saw their market value dive as investors sold their holdings. But Mr Tobin said he was seeing more demand from online gaming companies as the increased "attention to online gaming" attracted new players.

David Harding, chief executive of William Hill, said yesterday he had not seen an effect from customers deserting the internet in favour of betting shops, as some analysts had expected.

Meanwhile, Avigur Zamora, chief executive of Playtech, which provides software to gaming operators and collects royalties linked to the number of users, also said he was experiencing record online growth.

Continent 8 intends to return to the market in 60 to 90 days, giving potential shareholders time to see its interim results on September 30th. Investors had apparently responded warmly to the company before the arrest of Mr Carruthers but the fundraising was hit by the loss of confidence in the sector.

"There was an appetite until July 17th; we were probably going to be oversubscribed," said Mr Tobin.

When it returns to market, more attention may be paid than prior to the BetonSports crackdown to the legal risks of basing most of its business in Canada, where gambling is illegal.

Continent 8 outsources most of its internet services to the Mohawk community in Kahnawahke, which claims to be a sovereign enclave outside Canadian jurisdiction.