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Copyright 2004 Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail
Ltd.
Daily Record
October 29, 2004, Friday
HEADLINE: I'LL SEE YOU .. AND RAISE YOU POUNDS
160M; BRITISH ONLINE BETTING FIRM BUY MAJOR US POKER SITE
BYLINE: Craig Mcdonald
BODY:
A BRITISH firm are the world's biggest gambling
website after buying a major US online
poker site for pounds 160million.
It will give Sportingbet.com access to the
97,000 active players with US- -based Paradise Poker - who are
promoted by model Caprice.
They are also buying better potential to sell
to around a million others who play
online in the States, where there are more than 50 million
poker players.
The move comes as Britain relaxes its gaming
laws to increase the potential revenues of Uk firms.
Online
poker is one of the fastest- growing games on the internet
and Sportingbet chief executive Nigel Payne said: 'There's a great
deal of growth yet to go.
'This deal raises the stakes.We're delighted
a UK company is leading the world in internet gaming.'
Sportingbet's shares rose 9.9 per cent, valuing
them at pounds 265million.
The company, who average eight bets a second, said sports bets
were up36per cent in the year to July 31, and their customer base
was up 30 per cent to 1.2million.
'Over the last 16 months, we have seen the
number of customers, the number of bets taken and the profits
and cash generated reach record levels,' said Payne.
Caprice advertises Paradise Poker and loves
playing the game.
She recently took pounds 3000 off former Friends
star Matthew Perry in a televised game in the US.
She said: 'Playing
poker is such a rush. Everyone's doing it now.'
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