2 in 1 by Claudia Sonea

Are you enjoying a good piece of news on the Internet? Or you're placing the regular bets that had lead until now only to small petty losses? Well you can do them both starting next Monday when Nigel Eccles, a news junkie and former online betting site employee, and three colleagues in Edinburgh, Scotland will launch the newest site that they assembled: Hubdub. Eccles will release it on Monday because he plans to try to lure some investors before at the technology conference in Palm Desert, California. He sees great opportunities in this new site that works in everyone's benefit, without having to actually lose money. After signing up, the user will receive 1,000 "Hubdub dollars," play money that works only on the site. You can look at stories like from politics or sportsand then place a bet on the outcome. Guess right, and you'll win more Hubdub dollars. Lose, and your account will draw down. Following the pattern of the board game Monopoly, even sticking it out is rewarded, you'll also get 20 new Hubdub dollars ever day you log in. He worked on business strategy at Johnston Press PLC, a major regional newspaper publisher in the U.K. and later on at Flutter, a European online betting exchange that was sold to Betfair, an Internet wagering site. He saw how exciting was sport's betting and then he come up with the idea of a sitewhere customers will bet for fun, not money, on the outcomes of real news stories. The people who like to bet on events are more interested in the bragging rights of being right than in actually winning money and this is one of the reason for which his three partners â€" Tom Griffiths, Chris Stafford and Rob Jones â€" from another startup called Groopit, a social networking site launched last year in Edinburgh, accepted to do it. Hubdub may transform in a business model like that of a fantasy sports league, where participants pay a fee in order to join and then win rewards at the end of a certain period of time based on overall performance in the league. Those who will make the most successful predictions will be rewarded with being listed on a board of stars. Due to the fact that most of the founders live in Scotland, Hubdub has its headquarters there, but is focused mainly on the U.S. market, therefore by compling with U.S. betting rules, no money bets can be placed through Hubdub. It sounds interesting; however it is still in its early phase. Stay connected to enjoy the launch of Hubdub!

related story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080128/ap_on_hi_te/demo_tech_show_hubdub;_ylt=ApDPRP_u3vA_xOjvaAfCWQWs0NUE

by Claudia Sonea for PocketNews (http://pocketnews.tv)

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