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…"