Bodog.com Looks for Next Poker Star

LOS ANGELES – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Bodog Founder and CEO Calvin Ayre is out to discover the next reality TV star -- and he will do it with the help of a major U.S. television network.

The Bodog Entertainment Group, the largest North American-facing digital entertainment and gaming brand, announced the network partnership today, as well as details of the show focused on finding the most promising poker star in the United States.

Mr. Ayre will host the six-episode reality show, which will be taped in March at the luxurious Bodog Compound in Costa Rica. The episodes will air weekly on Saturdays from 11:00 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. EST, beginning April 15, 2006.

"We are on a mission to find the next poker star and eager to showcase the Play Hard aspects of the Bodog lifestyle," says Mr. Ayre, the billionaire gaming tycoon and the face of the lucrative online gambling industry. "Poker and television -- combined with Bodog-style entertainment -- will make for one heck of a show, and our next step into the world of reality TV."

The television series will intimately detail the journey of 40 individuals -- 10 celebrities, 10 poker professionals and 20 Bodog poker players -- who intend to use their card-playing skills to capture the US $500,000 grand prize. Each episode will feature a poker game, with each winner taking US $50,000 and securing a spot at the sixth and final table for a chance to win the half-million-dollar grand prize.

For reality show hopefuls, this is a chance to win a trip to Mr. Ayre's Costa Rican estate, called the Bodog Compound, and star alongside poker pros and celebrities in the network television series that will be broadcast around the world. To be eligible, contestants simply have to set up an account on Bodog.net and submit a completed application questionnaire. The show will be filmed in San Jose, Costa Rica, from March 4-11, 2006.

The reality show will showcase poker games, Costa Rican excursions, Bodog Music artists and the billion-dollar lifestyle of the show's adventurous host.

Earlier this year, the Bodog Entertainment Group produced its first television show, Bodog Salutes the Troops, which aired on Spike TV, and in January 2006, Bodog Music announced its expansion into Europe. Filmed during Super Bowl XL weekend, the Bodog Lingerie Bowl III will air on international Pay Per View throughout the year.

"Bodog continues to evolve into a world-class brand, and our television series marks yet another progressive step in our journey toward becoming North America's premier digital entertainment company," Ayre says.