TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER

EmpirePoker.com says it wants to ante up the $150 million in private funds the D.C. City Council is seeking for a Major League Baseball stadium. The Internet company claims it's willing to kick in up to $500 million.

In return, the online Texas Holdem poker Web site wants the new ballpark to be named EmpirePoker.com Stadium. And it wants online poker kiosks inside the ballpark.

Ron Burke, EmpirePoker.com's president of marketing in New York, insists this is not a publicity stunt.

"We have investors," he told The Free Lance-Star yesterday. "Texas Holdem Poker is very hot.

"We know they're having problems getting the funds. It's a serious offer," Burke said.

Ronn Torossion, a spokesman for the offshore online casino based in Limassol, Cyprus, said it's a billion-dollar business with 60,000 players online during peak hours each day.

Those who have their doubts about EmpirePoker.com's seriousness could point to the fact that this is the second time in little more than a week the online poker site has been in the news. Last Friday, The Associated Press reported that in an online survey, 42 percent of the Web site's VIPs selected model-actress Pamela Anderson as the celebrity with whom they would most like to play poker.

The D.C. Council voted Tuesday to require at least 50 percent private financing before it commits to helping build a new baseball stadium for the former Montreal Expos. D.C. Councilman Jack Evans says the city is looking at about 20 possible private investors.

Without private money from some source, the District will lose the Washington Nationals. Baseball Chief Operating Officer Robert DuPuy said Wednesday MLB will relocate the Expos elsewhere unless D.C. keeps its promise of full stadium financing by Dec. 31.

"We're prepared to write a check," Burke said.

Baseball stadium naming rights for a 30-year period typically produce about $120 million.

Chris Bender, a spokesman for District Mayor Anthony Williams, said he couldn't discuss any investment possibilities. But he pointed out that baseball, not the District, owns the naming rights to a new D.C. ballpark under the current stadium agreement between MLB and the city.

Major League Baseball did not respond yesterday to an e-mail question about the casino's offer. Baseball spokesman Rich Levin said Wednesday night the league would not answer questions about D.C. financing beyond DuPuy's statement.

D.C. Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp surprised almost everyone Tuesday by getting the council to approve the 50 percent private-funding requirement. She later told WTOP radio she hoped private investors would step forward.

"I obviously can't say that it will definitely happen, nor do I think they can say, 'It will not happen.' I think the challenge is for us to make it happen," she said.

Bender said there's no way the District's chief financial officer will certify any private funding deal in time to meet baseball's Dec. 31 deadline.

But he said the mayor hopes to show Cropp "a framework or a skeleton" of a deal that will convince her to "soften" her stance so the stadium agreement with baseball isn't allowed to expire.

"This isn't really about baseball, it's about the revitalization of the Anacostia waterfront," Bender said. "Baseball's a major economic engine."

Northern Virginia; Las Vegas; Monterrey, Mexico; Portland, Ore.; and Norfolk were competing with D.C. for the Expos earlier this year.

Virginia still has legislation in place to pay for two-thirds of a stadium near Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County. Another $82 million would come from contractors hoping to profit from development there. The remaining 25 percent of the estimated $400 million cost would be paid by team ownership.

Estimates on the total cost of a D.C. stadium range from $500 million to $600 million. The $150 million estimate for private financing the council is seeking would cover half the cost of the stadium only, not land acquisition and other infrastructure.

Some believe the Expos will move to Las Vegas if the District deal falls through, but that's not a realistic option for next season, according to a story in yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The newspaper quoted Don Logan, president of Triple-A Las Vegas 51s, as saying that 9,334-seat Cashman Stadium in the city could not be expanded to accommodate a major-league team next year.

"You couldn't put enough seats in there at a reasonable cost," Logan told the Review-Journal.