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Affleck, DiCaprio, Damon and Norton to compete for World Series of Poker
Published: 2005-06-02
 Sportsbook.com offers odds on the richest sporting event in the world
LAS VEGAS, NV, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The World Series of Poker (WSOP,) the largest poker tournament in the world has begun and Sportsbook.com is the only online gambling company offering odds on the top players lined up to compete. Some of Hollywood's biggest movie stars are among those competing with world poker stars like Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Scotty Nguyen for the best on the planet title.
Leonardo DiCaprio (250-1,) Ben Affleck (150-1,) Matt Damon (250-1) and Ed Norton (250-1) are all accomplished poker players on the Celebrity tour and will be in the WSOP field. Sportsbook.com fans wagering on the WSOP do not expect the Hollywood celebrities to seriously challenge the world renowned poker stars.
Poker is now one of the country's largest pastimes - both online and face- to-face, and continues to grow in popularity as more tournaments are created. The WSOP Championship Event takes place July 7 to 15 at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
"There will be a huge audience for this event. Sportsbook.com wants to offer fans a chance to play even if they can't get a seat at the World Series of Poker table," says Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director, Sportsbook.com. "We offer our players a chance to wager on all of the biggest sporting events and the World Series of Poker is definitely considered one of those events."
Some of the WSOP odds include:
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Phil Hellmuth 40-1 Ram Vaswani 50-1
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Phil Ivey 50-1 Erik Seidel 50-1
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Scotty Nguyen 50-1 Ted Forrest 50-1
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Tuan Le 50-1 Ben Affleck 150-1
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Chris Ferguson 50-1 Matt Damon 250-1
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Daniel Negreanu 50-1 Ed Norton 250-1
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Gus Hansen 50-1 Leonardo DiCaprio 250-1
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There are also several women in the WSOP. Jennifer Harman and Annie Duke have the highest odds, both at 60-1.
For a complete list of WSOP odds, please visit http://www.sportsbook.com/.
About Sportsbook.com
Sportsbook.com is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet, offering numerous products including sports betting, horse racing, poker, casino and virtual games. It is the flagship brand for Sportingbet PLC, . Headquartered in London, England, Sportingbet is the world's largest publicly traded online betting, gambling and gaming company.
CONTACT: Patrick Erlich, Sportsbook.com, sportsbook@mediaprofile.com, 1-866-505-2900
COPYRIGHT 2005 PR Newswire Association LLC
COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group
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Senators' draft bill targets banks in attack on internet gambling
Published: 2005-06-13
 United States senators are preparing to launch a new attack on online gambling in a move that threatens to damage PartyGaming, the online poker company planning a pounds 5.5bn float in London this month.
A bill being drafted by Jon Kyl, a Senator for Arizona and long- time opponent of internet gambling, seeks to ban credit card companies from dealing with online gaming groups in a bid to crack down on the rapidly growing industry.
As the US has no jurisdiction to challenge directly offshore internet gambling companies such as PartyGaming, which is based in Gibraltar, senators are trying to shut down the industry by stopping banks from handling all online betting transactions.
If the bill is successful, it would also hit other UK groups such as Sportingbet, which has two-thirds of its customers in the US.
Senator Kyl has the support of the powerful American Gaming Association (AGA), which represents land-based casinos.
Banning online casinos and internet betting would remove the biggest competitive threat to their businesses.
The move would also appease the World Trade Organisation, which earlier this year said the US was in breach of international trade agreements by preventing offshore gaming companies from targeting US customers while allowing some internet betting on its shores, such as on horseracing and online state lotteries. The WTO said the US must ban all forms of internet betting or open up its doors to foreign gaming groups.
However, competing interests in the US gambling industry may scupper the bill. It will be challenged by the equally powerful US horseracing industry, the Native Americans whose reservations are home to several gambling centres, and by state lotteries, which sell billions of dollars' worth of tickets online. They are set to demand exemption from the bill.
A spokesman for PartyGaming said: 'There seems to be no combination of exemptions that would be acceptable to all those who have an interest in this bill. PartyGaming does not believe the current proposals will gain sufficient support to be enacted.'
This is the eighth attempt by Senator Kyl to attack the online gaming industry in the US. Previous proposals have struggled to achieve political agreement.
The attack on banks follows attempts by the US Justice Department, which has already been pressuring institutions such as the Bank of America, Chase and American Express to stop handling internet betting transactions. The department has also issued threats to advertisers and media groups which have carried online gambling promotions.
News of the fresh assault on internet gambling comes as PartyGaming gears up to begin attracting potential investors. It is due to publish its listing prospectus later this week and investors will be scouring the document to assess the legal risks to the business.
The company maintains that online poker is not illegal in the US, only online sports betting.
Copyright 2005 Independent Newspapers UK Limited
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.
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