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Copyright 2004 Canada NewsWire Ltd.
Canada NewsWire

December 21, 2004, Tuesday

HEADLINE: PokerRoom.com Solves NHL Lockout Dispute;
- PokerRoom.com Invites Bettman and Goodenow to Winner-Take-All Online Poker Game

BODY:

   In an effort to find a solution to salvage the
2004/2005 NHL hockey season PokerRoom.com, one of the world's largest online poker gaming sites, has today delivered registered letters to NHL commissioner, Gary Bettman's New York office and NHL Players' Association
(NHLPA) executive director Bob Goodenow's Toronto office, inviting them to settle the longstanding labour dispute like men - in a game of winner-take-all poker on PokerRoom.com.
    In the spirit of their respective bargaining positions, the two-stage online tournament will feature a game of limit Texas Hold'em poker with a cap of four raises, followed by a heads-up, one-on-one game of no-limit Texas Hold'em. The first player to capture all his opponent's chips wins the challenge and the season is saved. Game on! Are Mr. Bettman and Mr. Goodenow truly prepared to end this conflict and save the season?
    "Hockey fans in North America have had enough of the current high-stakes game of brinkmanship that led to and continues to disrupt the 2004-2005 NHL hockey season," says Patrik Selin, casino boss, PokerRoom.com. "If they can't resolve this dispute through traditional negotiations and compromise, then the PokerRoom.com tournament offers them the best, and quickest, way to declare a winner and let the fans enjoy hockey again before it's too late. With no downloads required to play and the tournament hosted on-line, Mr. Bettman and Mr. Goodenow can easily take on the challenge from their respective offices in New York and Toronto."
    If Mr. Bettman and Mr. Goodenow decide not to accept this challenge, and the season is lost, PokerRoom.com invites hockey fans across the country to participate in the next best thing: PokerRoom Night in Canada online tournaments. A perfect replacement to fill the Saturday night void, these tournaments run every Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. EST until February 19, with a final tournament on February 26. The winner of the weekly PokerRoom Night in Canada tournaments will receive a ticket which entitles them to a seat in the PokerRoom Night in Canada Play-off Final on the 26th. This final tournament will be hosted as a single table, winner-takes-all-tournament, where the lucky player wins an all-expense paid trip to Sweden to see popular NHL stars actually play a game of hockey.

About PokerRoom.com

PokerRoom.com was introduced in 1999 as one of the first poker rooms on the Internet. Initially the company launched with 'play money' only and have continually developed and improved its services for its members. In 2001, PokerRoom.com introduced real money games and has since introduced a number of new casino games and innovations. At PokerRoom.com there are classics such as Texas Hold 'em, other poker and casino games available with just the click of a button. In addition, PokerRoom.com is the only online poker site that offers a java version of the game and doesn't require downloads, so members can play from PC, Mac or Linux computers. Visit www.PokerRoom.com to register.

   VIEW ADDITIONAL COMPANY-SPECIFIC INFORMATION:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/orgDisplay.cgi?okey=86777

CONTACT: To arrange an interview with a PokerRoom.com spokesperson or for copies of the letters sent to Mr. Bettman and Mr. Goodenow, please contact Andrea Hynes at Cohn & Wolfe. Tel: (416) 924-5700, Cell: (647) 228-1699 or Email:
andrea-hynes(at)ca.cohnwolfe.com

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