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Sportingbet is a British online gambling operator, owned by Entain plc. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange 9️⃣ and was a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index prior to its acquisition by GVC holdings. History [ edit ] The company 9️⃣ was founded by Mark Blandford in 1997.[2] Sportingbet acquired Paradise Poker in October 2004.[3] On 7 September 2006 Sportingbet reported 9️⃣ that its then chairman, Peter Dicks, was detained in New York City on a Louisiana warrant while traveling in the 9️⃣ United States on business unrelated to online gambling.[4] Louisiana is one of the few states that has a specific law 9️⃣ prohibiting gambling online. In March 2007, all Louisiana warrants involving the company were cancelled.[5] In October 2006, Sportingbet announced Paradise Poker 9️⃣ would stop taking deposits from US customers, although most would be allowed to continue to play for another month.[6] Additionally, 9️⃣ Sportingbet sold all its US-facing sports betting and casino businesses, including Sportsbook and Sports, to a group of private investors 9️⃣ forR$1, and an assumption ofR$13.2 million in debts.[7] In February 2007, Sportingbet announced it was eliminating its Paradise Poker software and 9️⃣ migrating players to its Sportingbet Poker platform. Prior to this, the two platforms had approximately the same number of players, 9️⃣ but the Sportingbet platform had higher liquidity because that platform was part of a larger network. The brand name of 9️⃣ Paradise Poker was retained.[8] |