Gamblers
Bet on Stars
As reported by the St. Paul
Pioneer Press: "Her gamble against a 2005
Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes marriage won her $200.
But when she bet on a baby boy for Ben Affleck
and Jennifer Garner, she wasn't so lucky.
"They
had a girl.
"…'I
think it's a continuation of North American
society becoming more celebrity-obsessed,'said
Calvin Ayres of Bodog.com, which also takes
bets on celebs.
"…Betting
on stars has been around almost as long as Internet
gambling, which started a decade ago and is
now a booming business, despite the fact that
it's illegal to headquarter the sites in the
U.S. (They are run from outside the country.)
"The
growing popularity of celebrity betting can
be explained by one thing, say those who run
the sites: a banner year for A-list breakups,
such as the Nick Lachey/Jessica Simpson split
and the Brad-Angelina-Vince-Jen quadrangle.
"You
had a lot of high-profile stuff going on,'says
Anthony Munnelly, spokesman for SportsInterAction.com,
which is based in Canada.
"Another
reason might be that more women are gambling
online. According to Munnelly, since the site
added poker and other casino games two years
ago, more women began logging on, and they might
be more inclined to bet on the celebrity 'props'
(or propositions) of the day, which are formulated
by site employees.
"…In
addition to betting on entertainment figures
and awards shows, the sites take bets on political
events and business news…"
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