Card Player Magazine announces Player of the Year, People?s Choice Award Winners at Poker?s Hottest Event

(Las Vegas, Nev.)-January 27, 2006- Card Player magazine, “The Poker Authority”, is rolling out the red carpet on February 15^th at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theater in Los Angeles, CA for the poker industries first Player of the Year Awards Banquet gala.

Co-sponsored and produced exclusively by Bodog, the 21^st century digital and online entertainment powerhouse, the awards show will feature Hollywood and poker superstars gathering for the game’s most coveted prizes. Card Player magazine’s 2005 Player of the Year Award and a number of other awards, including Card Player’s “Lifetime Achievement Award, will be doled out.

The event, being MC’d by Everybody Loves Raymond funnyman Brad Garrett, is billed as the “Oscars” of the poker industry.

 
“For the first time, the poker world will get what it deserves: a first-class awards banquet to honor all the professionals who have helped grow this industry into a mainstream sport,” says Card Player Media Chairman Barry Shulman. “Thanks to our partnership with Bodog, Hollywood will not only experience the best award show, but also get a chance to rub shoulders with the true poker superstars.”

 
The 2005 Player of the Year award was locked up by Men “The Master” Nguyen. Nguyen’s 16 final tables and $973,620 in earnings secured him the top seed among poker’s most lethal players.

In addition to the prestigious Player of the Year award, eight additional awards will be announced at the Awards Banquet on February 15th. Poker’s top players voted on the best cash game player, poker’s top ambassador, the best no-limit player, most entertaining player, best heads-up player, best mixed-game player, most feared player and most underrated player.

Two additional awards, favorite overall poker player and best celebrity poker player, comprise Card Player’s People’s Choice Awards. After weeks of online voting at CardPlayer.com and thousands of votes cast, Card Player has narrowed votes to a final nominee list.

Final nominees for favorite poker player include Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow and Daniel Negreneau. And finalists for best celebrity player include Gabe Kaplan, Tobey McGuire and Jennifer Tilly.

“In helping to grow the poker industry as a whole and to bring more exposure to the stars of poker, the players – the Player of the Year Awards Show will further cement poker’s prominence in the mainstream – and Bodog.com is proud to be the gala’s exclusive sponsor,” says Calvin Ayre, Bodog.com Founder and CEO, and host of the awards show.

 
About Card Player Media

Card Player Media is a leading media resource for poker enthusiasts at every level of interest and ability. With more than 18 years of service to the poker industry, Card Player Media is the publisher of Card Player, Card Player College and Card Player Europe.

Card Player Media also owns and operates a leading poker information portal on the Internet, CardPlayer.com. The site provides visitors with free webmail, lively information forums, a poker analyst tool that allows players to track their winnings, odds calculators, live tournament reporting, poker blogs from top poker professionals, and insightful content that ranges from basic rules of the game to advanced strategy analysis. An opt-in poker newsletter is distributed twice-monthly to more than 350,000 subscribers through the site.

About Bodog.com

Bodog.com, located in San Jose, Costa Rica, is federally licensed by the Costa Rican and UK governments. One of the pioneers in the field, Bodog.com is the top-ranked US facing online gambling brand, with highest site traffic amongst multi-product US gaming web sites according to Hitwise. Bodog.com, valued at over US $1 billion and ranked in the Power 10 online companies by eGaming Review, processed $7 billion in wagers in 2005.  The Bodog.com Marketing Conference, www.bodogconference.com, will take place in Las Vegas, Summer 2006, attracting the leaders of the online gambling industry. Bodog Entertainment Group also includes a music label, BodogMusic, an online magazine, BodogNation, a television production unit and further properties coming soon. For more information, contact Media Relations at 1-866-892-3371, or pr@bodog.com. BODOG is a registered trademark of Bodog Entertainment Group S.A.