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- Justin Beiber, Floyd Mayweather Jr. listed as stakeholders in venture
- PokerTribe.com has also partnered with individual known for failed businesses and run-ins with FTC
- Business partner Fred Khalilian once co-owned failed club with Paris Hilton that featured 10-foot tall, glitter-covered statue of her Chihuahua Tinkerbell
- Oklahoma Governor daughter working with airlines to bring venture to life
Justin Beiber is working along side Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallon’s daughter, Christina, in hopes of bringing online gambling to the friendly (or unfriendly, if you’ve flown in coach lately) skies.
Beiber and the Governor’s daughter are working with the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma on what could be the world's first in-flight gambling website. They have joined forces with Florida-based Universal Entertainment Group to retain 51 percent of the revenue from Pokertribe.com.
"I see this software to being the key for securing the future for many generations," said Chairman Bobby Walkup of the Iowa Tribe where the site will be hosted. "It is a market that is untouched."
But Universal Entertainment Group does have a colorful past to say the least.
Fred Khalilian, the man behind Universal Entertainment Group, once co-owned a nightclub with socialite Paris Hilton that provided endless fodder for gossip site TMZ.com.
From NewsOK:
Khalilian once partnered with hotel heiress Paris Hilton to run a now-closed nightclub called Club Paris in Orlando. Club Paris featured a 10-foot tall, glitter-covered statue of Hilton's Chihuahua, Tinkerbell, and promised regular appearances by Hilton. Khalilian eventually “fired” Hilton after she failed to make scheduled appearances, according to a 2007 People magazine article.
He also attempted to operate an online gambling site through the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes until those efforts were abandoned in 2014.
Of even more concern perhaps is that Khalilian also operated two companies that were the subject of lawsuits from Federal Trade Commission for deceptive business practices.
NewsOK notes that World Poker Fund Holdings Inc., a California-based social gaming company that trades its stock on the over-the counter market, estimated Tuesday that Pokertribe.com could generate as much as $808 million in annual revenue. WPH announced a 49 percent stake in Universal Entertainment Group just yesterday. Bieber and boxer Floyd Mayweather are both listed as major shareholders in World Poker Fund.
Christina Fallin is a spokeswoman for Universal Entertainment Group. She’s also involved in talks with air carriers though details were not provided.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
