International Business Times UK, the London-based Daily Mail, CNet and any number of online casino industry publications have been breathlessly reporting this week on the possibility that Facebook will begin hosting internet gambling services on the social networking ‘site – at least for a U.K. test market.

Facebook is reportedly planning for an IPO offering which could value the company at $100 billion plus and would put shares on the New York Stock Exchange as early as April 2012; CNet, among others, speculates that the investigation into gambling site hosting is an attempt to make potential profit look more promising in advance of the IPO.

According to industry publication eGaming Review, Facebook is currently in negotiation/advisory meeting with 20 consultants, experts in the field and some website representatives. ZDNet reported that current plans would have Facebook awarding eight licenses in areas of sportsbook, casinos and other verticals; Gamesys and 888.com are widely reported to have the inside track in acquiring two of these permissions.

In answer to publicly-voiced fears that gambling interests on Facebook could easily prey on the underage, Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes was quoted on CNet as stating that “Our commitment to providing a safe, secure and appropriate experience for teenagers is a fundamental principle of Facebook. The suggestion that we would make any decision that doesn’t carefully consider the impact on this audience is short-sighted and, frankly, offensive to the hundreds of people who work to keep kids safe and the many parents at Facebook.”

The plot thickens in the William Hill Online walkout, with the story line now including conspiracy and the involvement of Israeli intelligence officers.

Last week, the great majority of the staff at the Tel Aviv office of internet sportsbook giant William Hill Online walked off the job in response to chief marketing officer Eyal Sanoff’s resignation; added to this were employees’ general fears that plans are in the works to shut down the operation in favor of relocating the business to the United Kingdom or Gilbraltar.

Chasing this were walkouts at a William Hill office in Bulgaria and a related Playtech location in Manila. The labor situation was such that company CEO Ralph Topping himself joined COO Jim Mullen in Tel Aviv in an attempt to mollify the situation.

And then when things got really interesting. According the London-based Telegraph, the Tel Aviv outlet refused Topping and other higher-ups access to its computer records. William Hill then recruited “ex-Israeli intelligence officers to go through the systems,” only to find plans in place to form a new online sportsbook service. Superfluous employees on the payroll were also discovered, including “a rabbi, fish feeder and hairdresser.”

Some seven managers were dismissed from the company, and the Telegraph story reports that Mullen and William Hill Online CEO Henry Birch will be employed in Tel Aviv “for the next few months with a brief to change the culture of the business there,” clearly a necessary step at this point … unless in fact Hill will actually shut down the office.

Sad tales involving the expression “in the current economy” have become the cliché of our time, and this week monetary concerns are rocking one of the world’s biggest, most well-known sports bookmakers.

The online support center of William Hill on Sunday experienced a walkout by 160 employees – representing nearly 90% of the staff – in Tel Aviv. The center provides nearly all customer service support for the William Hill internet enterprise.

The walkout was caused by employee fears that William Hill CEO Ralph Topping is in fact planning to shut down the operation in favor of relocating the business in the United Kingdom or Gilbraltar.

Another company executive, Jim Mullen, flew to Tel Aviv on Monday in an attempt to settle matters, ultimately offering employees one month’s worth of pay should they return to work.

William Hill is expected to earn some £100 million (approximately $158 million/€114.5 million) on its internet sportsbook business alone in 2011.