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The Poker Web News: Sportingbet Quarterly Net Gains 84% on Poker Purchase

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Sportingbet Plc, a U.K. Internet betting company whose shares have tripled in five months, said second-quarter profit jumped 84 percent as earnings benefited for the first time from November's purchase of Paradise Poker.

Net income rose to 15.6 million pounds ($30 million), or 3.6 pence a share, in the three months through January from 8.5 million pounds, or 2.8 pence, a year earlier, the London-based company said today in a statement. Paradise Poker contributed 8 million pounds of operating profit, Sportingbet said.

``Paradise Poker is running considerably ahead of expectations,'' said Paul Leyland, an analyst at Seymour Pierce in London with a ``hold'' rating on Sportingbet stock. ``Calendar 2005 should see a doubling of the poker market, which Sportingbet should outperform due to cross-selling its customer bases.''

The $298 million acquisition of Paradise Poker, the world's third-biggest online poker operator, doubled Sportingbet's size and reduced the company's dependence on sports events such as the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Sportingbet is seeking to make more acquisitions, Chief Executive Nigel Payne said in an interview.
Full article here..Bloomberg.com: News & Commentary

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Survey Exposes Attitudes on Online Poker, Sex and the President

I'll call your Saddam Hussein and raise you Osama bin Laden

February 22, 2005

PokerStars.com Survey Reveals Americans Would Abstain From Sex for One Year for a $2.3M Online Poker Jackpot

President George W. Bush Edges Out Oprah Winfrey and President Clinton as the Celebrity That Americans Would Most Like to Play Online Poker With

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- What would it take for you to give up sex for one full calendar year? According to a recent national survey commissioned by PokerStars.com, more than half of Americans would say adios to sex for one year in exchange for winning an average $2.3 million in a game of online poker.

Conducted by StrategyOne, an independent public opinion research firm, on behalf of PokerStars.com, the scientific nationwide survey of American adults also found that men are more likely than women to exchange sex for super-sized online poker winnings, with 61 percent of adult males going on a year-long sexual furlough versus only 47 percent of women. Another seventeen percent indicated that they would need to win between $1 and $50,000 in online winnings to give up sex for a full year.

When it came to the pot needed to win, size mattered to men. The average cash amount men cited they would require to live sex-free for 365 days was $2.1 million; women were willing to sleep solo for a lesser $1.9 million.

The survey also asked respondents who they would most want to ante up with in a game of online poker. Americans selected President George W. Bush as their most-preferred celebrity poker competitor, followed closely by Oprah Winfrey and Bill Clinton. Oprah was also the favorite celebrity among women and hotel heiress Paris Hilton was the celebrity of choice among Gen-Y respondents, easily beating out the President, Donald Trump, Martha Stewart, among other high-profile celebrities.

The nationwide telephone survey of American adults 18 years of age and older held a margin-of-error of +/- 3.0 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

About PokerStars.com
PokerStars (www.pokerstars.com), an official member of the World Poker Tour, is the world's most innovative online poker site. PokerStars was the first site to introduce advanced multi-table tournaments, integrated game statistics, players' notes, personalized images, time bank for tournaments and ring big bet games, satellite tournaments, multi-table sit and go tournaments, and much more. PokerStars' support team is truly unique, as help and support is available around the clock from people who know and understand both the game of poker, and the importance of impeccable customer service.

To date, PokerStars has dealt more than one billion hands and run more than four million poker tournaments. PokerStars utilizes industry-leading security software to ensure the integrity of the system, including encryption, card shuffle randomness and preventative measures against cheating and collusion.

PokerStars is the site where the 2003 and 2004 World Champions of Poker won their entries into the World Series of Poker, thus earning the trademark
-- "Where poker players become World Champions."

     For more information, please contact:
     Nolan Dalla, Director of Communications
     PokerStars.com
     E: nolan@pokerstars.com

     Michele Sturdivant
     Edelman on behalf of PokerStars.com
     T: 323/202-1030
     E: michele.sturdivant@edelman.com

     Devin Parr
     Edelman on behalf of PokerStars.com
     T: 323/202-1072
     E: devin.parr@edelman.com

Source: PokerStars.com

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Lawmakers gather for Texas Hold'em tournament

February 21, 2005

Hold'em Poker Table Associated Press

ST. CLOUD, Minn. Eight state representatives and senators gathered Saturday to play Texas Hold 'em - in advance of a Senate hearing on legislation that would make the poker game legal in Minnesota. Sen. Dave Kleis, R-St. Cloud, has introduced the legislation that would make Texas Hold'em tournaments legal as long as prizes aren't worth more than $200.

The legislation was in response to a bust last year at Granite Bowl in which more than 40 people were detained, but no charges were filed.

The Saturday game also was at Granite Bowl, with owner Dave Bischoff nearby. Bischoff started the weekly tournaments again after the criminal case was closed. The tournament has grown from its prebust days of about 40 players to 70, he said. The prizes still are hats and T-shirts, he said.

Only about half the legislators in Saturday's game had played before.

"It's harder to do than I expected," said Rep. Andy Westerberg, R-Blaine.

Kleis was the first one out.

"No wonder we have budget problems," he joked. "I think we can legislate better than we play poker."

The game ended with several back-and-forth hands between Sen. Dave Hann, an Eden Prairie Republican, and Rep. Tom Hackbarth, R-Cedar.

Hackbarth ended up taking the top prize - a T-shirt.

"My dad was a great poker player," he said. "I watched him."

Information from: St. Cloud Times, http://www.sctimes.com