LEEDS, ENGLAND, December 27, 2008 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Poker is the latest sport to show its hand in a bid to be recognised by the IOC as an Olympic event, but it faces competition from online campaigns by both women's netball and cricket.

Buoyed by a public internet campaign, online gaming company CircusCasino.com, part of the UK's biggest casino operator, is hoping to convince Olympic organisers to include poker as a demonstration sport in 2012 and as a main event in 2016.

Thought to date back to 15th Century Germany, poker is now one of the fastest-growing games in the world and was recently officially recognised as a sport.

Although poker is played by millions of people around the world, the campaign faces competition from several rival groups each hoping to elevate their sport to Olympic status, most notably Twenty20 cricket and women's netball.

Poker aficionados do point out, however, that the card game stands a better chance as it ticks more of the IOC's regulatory boxes - for example, unlike netball and cricket it is truly cross-gender and has a far wider international appeal, finally, it would become truly the first age and class-neutral Olympic event.

Peter Nolan at CircusCasino.com said: "Poker's appeal is global, it transcends gender and age and is the fastest-growing sport in the world - it's ripe for Olympic recognition.

"Millions play every week, millions more watch it on TV, but perhaps more importantly, we've got some world-renowned British players. This fantasy squad is our take on who would best represent Team GB if poker did ever get to Olympic level."

'Fantasy' Olympic Team
Jon Kalmar - aged 35 from Chorley, Lancashire.
Adrian Lambe - in his 30's from Abingdon, Oxford.
Dave Colclough - aged 44 from Carmarthen, Wales.
Dave Ulliott - aged 54 from Hull, Yorkshire.
Victoria Coren - aged 35 from London.
Neil Channing - aged 41 from Reading, Berkshire.
Lucy Rokach - aged 59 from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Mark Goodwin - in his early 40's from Birmingham, West Midlands.

CircusPoker.co.uk is not affiliated with any of the above players and the list is the opinion of CircusPoker.co.uk.

Search for 'Campaign for Olympic Poker' on Facebook Groups or click here to join the campaign

Notes to Editors

1. Poker officially a sport: http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/848366/Poker-sport-ad-watchdog-says/
2. Twenty20 for the 2012 Olympics: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10564820406#/group.php?gid=8926895985
3. Netball for the Olympics: http://www.co-operative.coop/netball; http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=10564820406
4. Genting Stanley Alderney which operates CircusCasino.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of Genting International. It places the same high level of importance on social responsibility as Genting Stanley and will operate to the same high standards of care as the land-based casinos. It is incorporated in Alderney and regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
5. Genting Group is one of Malaysia's leading multinational corporations, which has more than 27,000 employees and a combined market capitalisation of more than US17 billion.

For further press information or images
Adrian Johnson, Lucre, +44 (0) 113 243 1117, +44 (0) 7921 504 134, [email protected]; Will Ockenden [email protected]; or Lucy Warrington [email protected]

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