New Website is Betting on Dominos as the Next Biggest Game

OAKLAND, California -- With the launch of a web site and national television show, the owners of DominoChamp.com are betting that dominoes is the "next big thing" in gaming entertainment.
  Modeled after the success of online and televised poker tournaments, DominoChamp looks to follow poker's successful transition into mainstream entertainment. Online poker burst onto the Internet in the late 1990's and grew into a $2.4 billion business by 2005. Celebrity and professional poker tournaments are now the third most-watched televised sport on cable TV - behind only car racing and football.

How can an up-start domino web site have a chance against the established poker giants?

DominoChamp's founder John Biddle sees success coming from dominoes' most passionate rivalries: family members. "Poker may be popular, but it's not family-friendly," asserts Mr. Biddle. "You don't see many families gathered around a poker table. At DominoChamp, you'll find husbands playing wives and parents playing their children. We have soldiers in Iraq meeting family members at our domino tables instead of making long distance calls." He is also quick to add, "The chance to be on TV doesn't hurt, either."

The DominoChamp television show will air nationwide this fall on WGN's cable network. The first season is "in-the-can" and the producers have already found that dominoes attracts pop-culture's biggest celebrities. Contestants will be a mix of well-known celebrities and the best players from DominoChamp.com. The show will feature weekly tournaments that end in one player being crowned the DominoChamp on the season finale.

Unlike illegal gambling web sites that allow players to bet on each game played, DominoChamp.com is not a gambling web site. It is legal in thirty-two states in the United States. DominoChamp.com operates on a subscription-based model, like Pogo.com and MSN Games. Any adult resident of a legal state can compete in the cash and prize tournaments for free. Subscription players are given extra features and can compete in more tournaments for larger prizes.