Have fun with new friends and take money off them! That’s the irresistible promise of a new gay table at the world’s premier Internet poker site.

The skill, nerve and mind games involved in playing poker make it a great ice-breaker. Now, Victor Chandler, a leading name in gaming, has teamed up with lifestyle Internet site RainbowNetwork.com to create a special area in which gay people can meet, chat and play.

The new “Rainbow” table can be found at vcpoker.com, the world’s first downloadable player-to-player poker destination.

Players of all abilities can participate. Beginners can watch and learn from the sidelines while the more experienced compete for money and take part in organised tournaments.

The two partners in the venture believe gay people will welcome the introduction of such a lively new social setting.

Alison Digges, Marketing Manager of Victor Chandler said: “While there may be many places on the Net for gay people to meet up, there’s something about playing poker that makes for a fantastic social occasion. I advise anyone looking for a ‘good hand’ to check it out.”

Alex Friesen of RainbowNetwork.com added: “This is another great opportunity for lesbians and gay men to get together online. There are plenty of links to it from our site. I’m sure many new friendships will be made there - and much money exchanged!”

vcpoker.com is quickly establishing itself as one of the world’s leading online poker community. Players drawn to the site are joined by those re-directed from partners such as Freeserve, Racing Post, Tiscali and Virgin.

RainbowNetwork.com is the UK’s leading gay & lesbian community with over 600,000 unique users a month. Many of its users already frequent vcpoker.com, and the setting up of a “Rainbow” table is just further acknowledgment of the reach of this market. It’s a bit of fun as well.

The “Rainbow” table currently offers the world's most popular poker game, Texas Holdem, although other games will be added in the near future. Those playing for money can start at five cents a hand. VC is also offering a 20 per cent sign up bonus (up to $40).

All transactions are completed on a secure encrypted link between Gibraltar and the clearing bank centre. Payment requests are honoured on the next working day.

The gay table at vcpoker is being launched at a time of significant growth for online gambling. Around 700,000 people regularly play poker online in the US. And according to market analyst Datamonitor, UK revenues for the entire online gambling sector are set to grow from an estimated £503m in 2000 to £1.2bn by 2005.

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For further information contact:

Alison Digges at Victor Chandler 0207 928 3133
[email protected]
About the Victor Chandler Casino Division
Victor Chandler Worldwide (VCW) is one of the world’s most established and well respected online gaming companies. The parent company is the largest independent bookmaker in the UK and is over 50 years old. The casino division of VCW was started in 2000 to capitalise on the growing market for online play and the position of the parent company as a trusted brand.
In addition to vcpoker.com, there are four casino products in the VCW portfolio. They are: The Spin Room The Spin Room (www.thespinroom.com), a java based casino which was launched in March 2001 for the UK market; Victor Chandler casino (www.victorchandlercasino.com), a multiplayer downloadable casino for UK players; Victor Casino (www.victorcasino.com), an Asian facing casino with dealer voices in Mandarin, Cantonese as well as English; Victor Games (www.victorgames.com), a site featuring games of chance and aimed at the “soft gaming” market.

About RainbowNetwork.com

RainbowNetwork.com (RN) is the leading UK gay & lesbian online community. Established in 1999, the site has grown to service 600,000 unique users per month with a mix of lifestyle, news, and interactive editorial. Further expansion in the European market took place in 2001 with the launch of RainbowNetwork Netherlands (RNN).

Revenues for the networks are generated by support from many of the major brand name advertisers in the UK. Because if their reputation, Victor Chandler is the only gaming organisation with which RainbowNetwork would consider a partnership.

For further information contact:

Alex Friesen
Commercial Director
Rainbow Network
[email protected]