Gamble, Gawk and Talk. . . Here Comes Jenna

One of the world's hottest adult entertainment stars is spreading her wings and venturing into the online gaming business.

Jenna Jameson, who's proclaimed herself the most downloaded woman in the adult entertainment business, has launched her own online casino, www.jennascasino.com, and hopes to convert her massive fan base into interactive gamblers.

"My target is about 10 million active users."

- Jay Grdina
Club Jenna

The site, which is run by Jameson's company Club Jenna, did a soft launch in late November. The finishing touches are being put on the site as company officials prepare to unleash an extensive marketing and affiliate program.

Go Bet International designed the software for the sports book as well as the casino, which includes blackjack, roulette, craps, poker, keno, slots and more. Customers can play for free or for real money.

The site is also designed to accommodate large groups of friends who wish to gamble together. Groups can reserve public or private tables so friends, co-workers and family can meet and chat in real time while playing their favorite casino games.

Jay Grdina, vice president of Club Jenna, said the interactivity to the site is key because many of Jenna's fans are used to that element from the adult entertainment industry.

"She will be in our chat forum and will say 'let's go play some blackjack," and people will follow her over to the casino," he said. "She chats while she is playing and sees who all is in there."

Unique promotions will be offered through the casino to Jenna's fans. Monthly chats, live video feeds with Jenna talking to everyone at the casino and a host of contest and give-a-ways are all on the schedule for the new site. Items that will be given away to players include Jenna's wardrobes from different movies, dance costumes she has worn for shows, and even some of her panties and of course 8x10-autographed photos.

"There will be plenty of cross promotion between the casino and the Club Jenna site," Grdina said. "We have a pretty large user base which fluctuates but our retention rate is pretty good. With the traffic to the site we get over 1 million hits a day."

Grdina hopes the high volume will convert Club Jenna visitors to gambling regulars through Jenna's Casino. Her popularity is unmatched in many circles.

"Jenna is the No. 1 download on the Internet for adult film starts," he said. "The only person that is ahead of her as far as search engine traffic is Brittany Spears. She and Pam (Anderson) go back and forth, so that is pretty big status that Jenna is with."

Other adult entertainment stars make the same claim, but Grdina said none have the credentials to back up their claims like Jameson.

"Other people, like Danni Ashe, claim that they are the most downloaded women," he said. "If you took it over a nine-year expanse and all the other girls that are on her site that might be true. But individually, bar none, Jenna is the most downloaded adult star in the world."

With that kind of popularity and familiarity among Web surfers, Grdina isn't looking to get a small piece of the Internet gambling pie; he has lofty goals for the new site.

"My target is about 10 million active users," he said. "You can always hope big."

The casino was in the research and development phase for nearly eight months from inception to its launch. He said that, after launching the site on Nov. 20, there have been some minor tweaks to the system, but it's just about fully done.

"We wanted to get all the bugs out of it before we got too deep into the process, and brought in loads and loads of traffic," he said. "We are working on some new software to help facilitate the affiliate process."

Jameson, who's taken the adult entertainment industry by storm since breaking onto the scene in the mid 1990s, is no stranger to gambling. Grdina said no entity makes more sense for the crossover from porn to gambling than Jameson.

"Oh yeah, she is a gambler. She was born in Vegas and got her start in the adult industry as a showgirl," he said. "She loves to gamble and when she is at home she is on the computer and at the casino all the time."