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2009 News

Paris Hilton Versus Mike Sexton on Party Poker, Tom Jenkins - 15th May 2009
(Credit: Poker News Daily)

PartyPoker, the world’s second largest online poker site or network that does not accept U.S. players, may host a heads-up match between heiress Paris Hilton and World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton. The winner will take home a brand new Bentley.

In 2006, PartyPoker, which is owned and operated by the publicly traded firm Party Gaming, offered Hilton a chance to recoup a Bentley that she allegedly lost in a game of poker. The luxury car in question was a Continental GT, but Hilton failed to take the then-world’s largest online poker room up on its offer. Hilton quickly became the centerpiece of the poker world, albeit for a brief time period. A statement released by PartyPoker this week recalled, “We challenge her to take us up on the offer. Three years is a long time in show business and we’re sure she’d jump at it now - it is a simple offer for the former ‘Simple Life’ star. Following the original offer in 2006, the likes of Clonie Gowen also made public challenges to the heiress, but so far Paris has resisted.”

Apparently, it’s déjà vu all over again for the hotel heiress. She reportedly had her new Bentley vandalized; PartyPoker stated that egg throwing was to blame. Now, the online poker site has quickly jumped back into the spotlight, with the longtime WPT Host challenging the reality star to a heads-up game with a Bentley on the line. We’d like to think that Hilton’s reaction was, “That’s hot.” PartyPoker’s Warren Lush told Poker News Daily what format the heads-up match may take: “The Paris Hilton challenge nearly happened last time and with what happened to her recently, we thought it was right to reiterate our offer. If she decides to accept, the format will be a heads-up tournament, but we are open to discussion about a definitive structure.” The name of the game would be No Limit Texas Hold’em and no deadline has been given for Hilton to respond.

Hilton played in the 2009 WPT Celebrity Invitational at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. The tournament, which played out in February, raised money for The Vine Group. The beneficiary organization’s ambassador at the event was none other than actor Mekhi Phifer, who welcomed Hollywood’s elite including Vince Vaughn, Jason Alexander, Ben Affleck, Mena Suvari, Don Cheadle, Jon Favreau, Ricki Lake, Ray Romano, and Brad Garrett. The tournament was ultimately won by poker pro Freddy Deeb and raised $77,000 for The Vine Group.

Hilton may be best remembered for her leading role on “The Simple Life,” a reality series that also starred Nicole Richie, daughter of music legend Lionel Richie. The show aired on Fox and E! before vanishing from television airwaves two years ago. Season 1 of the show sent the duo to rural Arkansas, far away from their regular celebrity lifestyles. During Season 2, Hilton and Richie hit the road across the United States and found themselves as interns for Season 3. The fourth season of “The Simple Life” featured the subtitle “Til Death Do Us Part.” The fifth and final season sent the pair to summer camp.

Sexton, the voice of the WPT alongside Vince Van Patten, re-signed with PartyPoker as its ambassador at the end of April. A World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Sexton also took down the first $10,000 buy-in poker tournament ever held at Foxwoods (which occurred in 1992) and was the first American to win the Euro Finals of Poker. Sexton will represent the popular online poker site at live tournaments around the world and serve as the host of PartyPoker’s suite at the Rio for the 2009 WSOP, which starts in two weeks. He’ll also be regularly contributing to PartyPoker’s blog. Sexton is a monthly Guest Columnist right here on Poker News Daily. His most recent entry reviews the Season VII WPT Championship.

Profile

Bentley Motors Limited is a British based manufacturer of luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. Bentley Motors was founded in England on January 18, 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, known as W.O. Bentley or just "W.O." (1888–1971). He was previously known for his successful range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later versions of the Sopwith Camel. Since 1998 the company is owned by Volkswagen Group's Audi division.

Bentley as a separate company
A group of wealthy British automobile aficionados known as the "Bentley Boys" (Woolf Barnato, heir to diamond mining magnate Barney Barnato, Sir Henry Birkin, George Duller, steeplechaser, Glen Kidston, aviator, S. C. H. "Sammy" Davis, automotive journalist, and Dr. Dudley Benjafield amongst them) kept the car's reputation for high performance alive. At one point, on a bet, Barnato raced Le Train Bleu from Cannes to Calais, then by ferry to Dover and finally London, travelling on public highways with normal traffic, and won; the special-bodied 6.5 L car became known as the Blue Train Bentley. Thanks to the dedication of this group to serious racing, the company, located at Cricklewood, north London, was noted for its four consecutive victories at the 24 hours of Le Mans from 1927 to 1930. Their greatest competitor at the time, Bugatti, whose lightweight, elegant, but fragile creations contrasted with the Bentley's rugged reliability and durability, referred to them as "the world's fastest lorries". Perhaps the most iconic Bentley of the period is the 4.5 L "Blower Bentley", with its distinctive supercharger projecting forward from the bottom of the grille. Uncharacteristically fragile for a Bentley, however, it was not the racing workhorse that the 6 L Bentley was. It became famous in the popular media as the vehicle of James Bond in the original novels, but not in any film; rather, John Steed in the television series The Avengers did drive a Bentley on-screen.

A great deal of Barnato's fortune went to keeping Bentley afloat after he had become chairman in 1925; but the Great Depression destroyed demand for the company's expensive products, and it was finally sold off to Rolls-Royce in 1931. It should be noted that Bentley was a very serious competitor to Rolls-Royce and that the 8 L Bentley was probably a better machine than anything Rolls-Royce at that time had to offer.

Early Bentleys
1921–1929 3 L
1926–1930 6½ L
1928–1930 Speed Six
1926–1930 4½ L
1928–1930 Blower
1930–1931 8 L
1931 4 L
1933–1937 3½ L
1936–1939 4¼ L
1939–1941 Mark V
1939 Corniche

Bentleys of the Rolls-Royce era

S1 Continental Fastback Coupé with Mulliner BodyworkRolls-Royce merged the Bentley line into its own, so that the Bentley marque became just a Rolls-Royce without the distinctive grill and with a lower price tag. In the 1980s, however, Bentley became a separate, high performance car line once again. The most notable car in the Rolls-Royce period was probably the Bentley Continental, which appeared in various forms from 1952 to 1965, and again in 1992 with production ending in 2003. The Bentley factory in Crewe, Cheshire, is still known in the town by the name "Royce's". For more on Bentley Motors from 1931 to 1998, see Rolls-Royce and Rolls-Royce Motors.

1946-1952 Mark VI
1952-1955 R Type and Continental
1955-1959 S1 and Continental
1959-1962 S2 and Continental
1962-1965 S3 and Continental
1965-1980 T-series
1965-1977 T1
1977-1980 T2
1971-1984 Corniche
1984-1995 Continental — convertible
1992-1995 Continental Turbo
1975-1986 Camargue
1980-1987 Mulsanne
1984-1988 Mulsanne L limousine
1982-1985 Mulsanne Turbo
1987-1992 Mulsanne S
1984-1992 Eight — lower-priced model
1985-1995 Turbo R — turbocharged performance version
1991-2002 Continental R — turbocharged 2-door model
1999-2003 Continental R Mulliner — performance model
1994-1995 Continental S — intercooled
1992-1998 Brooklands — improved Eight
1996-1998 Brooklands R — performance Brooklands
1994-1995 Turbo S — limited-edition sports model
1995-1997 Turbo R — updated Turbo R
1996 Turbo R Sport — limited-edition sports model
1995-2003 Azure — convertible Continental R
1999-2002 Azure Mulliner — performance model
1996-2002 Continental T — short wheelbase performance model
1999 Continental T Mulliner — firmer suspension
1997-1998 Bentley Turbo RT — replacement for the Turbo R

Volkswagen Group ownership

2003 Bentley Azure Mulliner Final SeriesIn 1998, Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motors was purchased from Vickers (its owner since 1980) by Volkswagen for £430 million, after bidding against BMW. BMW had recently started supplying components for the new range of cars, notably V8 engines for the Bentley Arnage and V12 engines for the Rolls-Royce Silver Seraph. The Rolls-Royce name was not included in VW's purchase; it was instead licensed to BMW (for £40 million) by the Rolls-Royce aero engine company.

BMW and Volkswagen came to an agreement whereby Volkswagen would manufacture both Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars until the end of 2002, whereupon the right to build Rolls-Royce cars would be BMW's alone. During this period, Volkswagen reduced its reliance on BMW as a supplier: as of 2003, BMW engines are not used in Bentley cars.

Modern Bentleys

The current Bentley lineup: Flying Spur, Continental GT, and Arnage
Queen Elizabeth II's Bentley State LimousineIn 2002, Bentley presented Queen Elizabeth II with an official State Limousine to celebrate the Golden Jubilee. In 2003, Bentley's 2-door convertible, the Bentley Azure, ceased production, and the company introduced the Bentley Continental GT, a large luxury coupe. The car is powered by a version of VW's W-12 engine.

Demand had been so great that the factory at Crewe, Cheshire, had been unable to satisfy demand despite installed capacity of approximately 9500 vehicles a year. There was a waiting list of over a year for new cars to be delivered. Consequently, production of the new Flying Spur, a four-door version of the Continental GT, was assigned to the Transparent Factory, where the VW Phaeton luxury car is also assembled. This arrangement ceased at the end of 2006, all car production reverted to the Crewe plant.

In April, 2005, Bentley confirmed plans to produce a 4-seat convertible model, the Azure, derived from the Arnage Drophead Coupe prototype, at Crewe beginning in 2006. By the fall of 2005, the convertible version of the successful Continental GT, the Continental GTC was also presented. These two models were successfully launched in late 2006.

Bentley sales have been strong in 2005 with 8,627 sold worldwide, 3,654 of these vehicles were sold in the United States.

1998– Arnage saloon
1999– Hunaudieres Concept
2002– State Limousine
2003– Continental GT coupé
2005– Continental Flying Spur saloon
2006– Azure convertible
2006– Continental GTC convertible
(Credit: Wikipedia)

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