Money doesn't just fall from the sky.  That is, unless you happen to be standing under a huge billboard featuring $100,000 in real cash!

This is exactly what an armed guard claimed happened during the wee hours of Wednesday morning when he returned back from a 10 minute "coffee break".

The guard, who has not been identified by name, told police he had stepped away for a mere 10 minutes and upon returning to the "real cash" billboard, discovered someone had managed to run off with nearly $30,000 of the cash.  The other $70,000 sits in a Las Vegas police station as of Wednesday evening.

Las Vegas police are investigating how a display case containing 100-thousand dollars was broken into overnight on a billboard rented by a company that had been taking bets on how long it would take for the cash to be pilfered.

That company is Sportsbook.com, the largest online sports betting website catering to North Americans.

Learn more about Sportsbook.com here ---->

Police say one question is whether London-based Sportsbook-dot-com had a permit for a promotional event.

Company officials insist the theft was NOT a publicity stunt. They're also not saying how many bets they took since putting the billboard up on Friday.

A 24-hour armed guard the company says was posted near the billboard failed to prevent the incident.

And police say they found a car filled with one-dollar bills abandoned this morning at an apartment complex not far from the billboard.

Not a Publicity Stunt

"This was not a stunt!  We were hit!" proclaimed  Alex Czajkowski, Marketing Director for Sportsbook.com.

For a company like Sportsbook.com, $100,000 is like a drop in the bucket.  For the average person living in Las Vegas, $100,000 represents a five-year meal ticket.

The billboard campaign was erected to promote a contest that offered Sportsbook.com customers multiple opportunities to win $100,000 during this football season.

Carrie Stroup, Spokesperson for Sportsbook.com and a featured Reporter for Sports911.com, was scheduled to start promoting the $100,000 contest this week on the S911 website.

The robbery will have no effect on the contest and Sports911.com readers are encouraged to continue and enter.

"Sportsbook.com is offering multiple chances to win $100,000," Stroup said.  "Contests include a $100,000 perfect sports parlay, $100K Black Jack tournament, $100K sports trivia contest, $100K Black Friday Poker roll."

This is believed to be the first billboard of its kind featuring real cash.

Czajkowski stated last week: 'No one would ever dream of putting $100,000 cash on a billboard in the middle of one of the busiest streets in the world. But we want to show our valued members and potential members just how serious we are about providing the most exciting and rewarding contests of any online sportsbook.'

Sportsbook.com announces their unrivalled football bonus package. 150% in real bonuses…

Deposit $50 or more and Sportsbook.com will match new customer deposits up to $50.  Poker players will also receive an additional $25 to play poker after downloading the poker software. This offer closes September 11th 2006.

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Christopher Costigan, www.gambling911.com

Originally published September 6, 2006 7:54 pm ET