He owns 40 per cent of the company, which is said to be worth around £2.2bn.RICHARD SEGALAged 42, he was appointed chief executive of PartyGaming last year. They no longer play any part in running the business, but act as consultants, especially with the legal side of the business. The Government has passed a new Gambling Act to regulate internet betting, forcing operators to be properly licensed. Companies will also have to adhere to social responsibility codes that should ensure children and problem gamblers are protected, and ensure customers are treated fairly by websites.The US has taken a more puritanical view and is trying to ban internet betting. PartyGaming does not believe its activities do break any US laws, but it is based in Gibraltar where it is free from legal problems.Who's who in the poker businessVIKRANT BHARGAVAAged 32, and originally from Rajasthan, he pursued a career in banking before joining the poker party in 2000, having been asked to come on board as marketing director of PartyGaming by his old college friend, Anurag Dikshit. Their combined stake is worth around £2bn.ANURAG DIKSHITVery little is known about the 33-year-old computer whizzkid who created the technology behind online poker. By 1997, however, she had severed her ties with porn and hit on the idea of online poker.RUSS DE LEONHarvard law graduate who is Parasol's husband and co-shareholder The pair now live in Gibraltar with their two children.

She made millions in the early 1990s from premium-rate adult chatlines and pornographic websites.

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Married with two children, he is the only shareholder in the company to be seen in public and is a regular face in the crowd at PartyGaming's live poker tournaments.RUTH PARASOLA Californian lawyer whose first business exploits were in an even more controversial arena than poker. As well as Party Gaming, which plans to float later this month, Empire Online, another poker website, is planning to do the same. Set up by an Israeli businessman, it is expected to be worth more than £550m.The millions being made by poker entrepreneurs are being raked in despite the fact it is in a legal grey area.

The aptly named Chris Moneymaker began playing poker online and qualified for a seat in the World Series in 2003 He won, pocketing $2.5m in prize money. Most of the large poker sites offer seats in the Series, and these internet success stories are fuelling aspiring players.Celebrities such as Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matt Damon and Tobey Maguire are all regulars at televised poker matches, and have also helped give the game a cult appeal.So big is the potential for companies to make millions from the business that there is now a rush of other online gambling companies listing in the stock market. It all happens electronically, which means you keep gambling without it seeming like a real loss. It gives you no time to think and consider your actions."An arch rival of PartyPoker, Sportingbet, which owns the Paradise Poker website, yesterday said profits for the three months to the end of April had more than tripled. Around 14 games of poker are being played on its site per second.