PinnacleSports.com Releases Miss World Odds

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao – (PRESS RELEASE) -- Over 100 of the most beautiful women on earth will gather in Sanya, China, this Saturday to compete for the title of Miss World 2005. The Internet's largest sports betting site, PinnacleSports.com, originally offered betting on which pageant contestants would advance to the finals by placing in the top two in their region. After weeks of betting predicted the regional favorites, wagering has been opened on the eventual pageant winner, and the odds now point to three countries with no prior Miss World titles wearing the crown for the first time.

PinnacleSports.com has created individual odds on over 40 contestants winning the Miss World title, and Miss Philippines, Carlene Aguilar, has emerged as a 5/1 favorite to win the competition after receiving significant backing from bettors. PinnacleSports.com has also taken a number of bets on Miss Canada, Ramona Rina Amiri, and Miss Italy, Sofia Bruscoli, who are currently listed at 8/1 and 9/1 to win the pageant, respectively. If any of the three betting favorites wins, it would mark the first time in the pageant's history that a representative from the Philippines, Canada or Italy was crowned Miss World.

"With over 2 billion viewers, Miss World is not only one of the world's most-watched live television events, but has also become a hit with bettors around the globe," said Simon Noble of PinnacleSports.com. "In the past we've found wagering on events like Miss World to be an accurate predictor of public opinion, so it wouldn't be surprising to see the Philippines, Canada or Italy feature when the judging panel make their final deliberations and crown Miss World 2005."

During regional wagering, Miss Puerto Rico was the overwhelming favorite to be named Miss World Caribbean and is now a solid contender for the pageant crown at 13/1. One of the most heavily backed contestants to win her region, Miss Namibia (14/1), has received lukewarm support to win the outright Miss World title. Other contestants who bettors believe could emerge as Miss World 2005 include: Miss Venezuela (16/1), Miss Iceland (16/1), Miss Lebanon (17/1), Miss England (21/1), and Miss Mexico (25/1). Noteworthy long shots to win the competition include the host country's representative, Miss China (62/1), and Miss USA (63/1).