Donald Trump chose Randal Pinkett as his new Apprentice. 

"Randal, you're an amazing leader," Trump said. "Rarely have I seen a leader as good as you, and you lead through niceness."

He concluded: "Rebecca, you're outstanding; Randal, you're hired."

As reward for outperforming all other 15 young entrepreneurs _ this season "hand picked" by Trump _ Pinkett wins a job at the Trump Organization with a "hefty six-figure salary."

Pinkett chose to work on the construction of a condominium project in Jersey City, N.J. _ rather than on casino expansions in Atlantic City.

Trump nearly threw a monkey wrench into Thursday's proceedings. After announcing the winner, he asked Pinkett if he should also hire Jarvis.

"I firmly believe this is `The Apprentice,"' Pinkett replied. "That there is one and only `Apprentice' and if you're going to hire someone tonight, it should be one."

Trump said he "could have been convinced," but opted to agree with Pinkett and "leave it at that."

Gambling911.com's own Bones McCoy made the daring prediction two weeks ago that the Donald might decide to hire both candidates as his apprentices. 

Last week when www.pinnaclesports.com opened betting on The Apprentice: Donald, Randal was at -400 and Rebecca at +350 to win the job with The Trump Organization. The company closed betting on Thursday evening before the show aired with Randal -403, Rebecca +353.

On Monday, Pinnacle re-opened wagering with Randal at -300 and Rebecca +260 because both candidates face obstacles in their final tasks, but Randal’s seems more daunting as Mother Nature is threatening the entire event.

As of 11:00 am EST Tuesday, Randal was still at
-200 while Rebecca was at +180, but now an influx of recent bets have pushed the lines in Rebecca’s favor, according to Pinnacle Sports.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Rebecca is now the -133 favorite while Randal is +117 dog.

In a statement issued by PinnacleSports.com Tuesday afternoon to Gambling911.com, a representative from the company commented that "It appears that bettors believe the problems facing Randal are greater than Rebecca needing to find a replacement emcee for her event and this will sway Trump’s ultimate decision."

Randal, 34, is the founder, president and CEO of his fifth venture "BCT Partners," a multi-million dollar management, technology and policy consulting firm based in Newark, N.J., that works with corporations, government agencies, philanthropic and nonprofit organizations. Born in Philadelphia and raised in Hightstown, N.J., he holds five academic degrees in engineering, business and technology including a B.S. from Rutgers University, an M.S. from the University of Oxford in England as a Rhodes Scholar, and an M.S., M.B.A. and Ph.D. from MIT. A former college championship track and field athlete, he has received numerous awards for his accomplishments as an entrepreneur and technologist including the National Society of Black Engineers "National Member of the Year." A Leadership New Jersey Fellow and Next Generation Leadership Fellow, Randal has been featured by Black Enterprise magazine and Ebony magazine in their "30 Leaders of the Future" issue. He is a proud member of First Baptist Church in Somerset, N.J., where he resides and is happily married to his wife Zahara.

PinnacleSports.com accepted wagers on the Apprentice right up until the start of the show Thursday night. 

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Gambling911.com News Wire

Originally published December 15, 2005 11:00 pm EST

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