Internet Gambling Experts to Appear At American Gaming Lodging And Leisure Summit

Business Wire, Feb 8, 2000

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 8, 2000

Industry Experts Join Internet Gambling Panel to Explore the

Past, Present, and Future of the Industry

Experts on the rapidly growing Internet gambling industry--Sue Schneider, President &CEO of The River City Group, LLC, and Sebastian Sinclair, Vice-President of Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC, author of &uot;E-Gambling: Wagering On the Internet&uot; -- will discuss the phenomenon of Internet gambling at the American Gaming Lodging and Leisure Summit. The Summit, sponsored by Bear Stearns &Co. Inc, will be held February 9-10, 2000 in Las Vegas. Their panel, &uot;Internet Gambling: Boom or Ban&uot; will examine the growth of the interactive gaming industry, the geographic differences in its development and the key players involved.

&uot;We are very excited to have the River City Group and Christiansen Capital Advisors participating,&uot; commented Jason Ader, Bear Stearns senior managing director and gaming, lodging and leisure analyst. &uot;They have been a great source of information for us and I am confident others will find their research valuable as well.&uot; The two groups were major contributors to Bear Stearns' recent Internet gaming report entitled, &uot;E-Gaming--Endangered Species or Rising Star.&uot;

The River City Group and Christiansen Capital Advisors' noted industry analyst Sebastian Sinclair have produced their own internet gambling report, &uot;E-Gambling: Wagering On the Internet.&uot; The result of four years of research, the report is a two-volume strategic analysis of the online gambling industry today, as well as a forecast of tomorrow. The comprehensive 120-page report, comprises research, analysis and appendices, including 70 in-depth profiles of Internet gambling corporations, information on nearly 650 Internet gambling web sites, regulatory reports on more than 40 worldwide jurisdictions, financial assessments of where the industry stands today and predictions for the future. The entire report may be ordered online at (http://www.rivercitygroup.com) or by calling 639-946-0820.

The River City Group, LLC is a publishing and consulting firm whose principal, Sue Schneider, has been tracking the interactive gaming industry since its inception in 1995. The company also produces the Global Interactive Gaming Summit and Expo which is scheduled for May 10-12 in Montreal.

Christiansen Capital Advisors, LLC has performed studies of the economics, management, operations, taxation, and regulation of leisure and entertainment businesses in more than forty states, provinces, and foreign countries, with particular focus on gaming and wagering. Mr. Sinclair is the author of numerous professional articles dealing with the economic and financial aspects of legal gambling industries in trade and professional publications.

The American Gaming, Lodging &Leisure Conference will bring together top industry leaders and investors. In addition to the E-Gaming panel, there will be discussions focusing on Gaming and Technology, Native American Gaming, Slot Machines, Internet Travel, Gaming Legislation and many other topics. The conference will be held at two of the premier hotels in Las Vegas, The Venetian and Paris Las Vegas. To learn more, or to register for the conference, please call the Bear Stearns Conference Line at 212-272-9386.

Founded in 1923, Bear, Stearns &Co. Inc. is a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, and the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE:BSC). With approximately $21.4 billion in total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. The company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales and trading, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers professional and correspondent clearing, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has over 10,000 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico and San Francisco; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit our Web site at http://www.bearstearns.com.

Any recommendation contained in this report may not be suitable for all investors. Moreover, although the information contained herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, its accuracy and completeness cannot be guaranteed. Bear Stearns may make markets and effect transactions, including transactions contrary to any recommendations herein, or have positions in the securities mentioned herein (or options with respect thereto) and may also have performed investment banking services for the issuers of such securities. In addition, employees of Bear Stearns may have positions and effect transactions in the securities or options of the issuers mentioned herein and may serve as directors of such issuers. Copyright (c) 1999. All rights reserved by Bear, Stearns &Co. Inc.