As reported by: Houston Chronicle
Are you a member of the Soul Patrol or have you caught the McPheever?

An audience in excess of 30 million is expected to cast more than 50 million votes Tuesday night for American Idol hopefuls Taylor Hicks and Katharine McPhee. A winner will be revealed Wednesday.

Meanwhile, an untold number of viewers will watch for more selfish reasons. They hope to fatten their wallets.

Climbing interest in online betting is making reality-show winners out of ordinary viewers while augmenting the coffers of Web-based betting houses.

Every week, such Web sites as sportsbook.com, pinnaclesports.com, bodog.com and betus.com post odds on the competitors on such shows as Idol, The Amazing Race and Survivor. And Americans are placing their bets in record numbers.

The action "is not huge, compared to our major sports," but has gone "from nothing to interesting levels," says Alex Czajkowski, marketing director for the Americas region of sportsbook.com. Sportsbook is a subsidiary of sportingbet, the world's largest online gaming company, with headquarters in London.

"The average bet size is half the average that I see in sporting areas - $15 to $20 versus $50 to $60," he said.

He put volume on a level with such "smaller" sports as boxing or golf.

"The big volume (in gambling) is college and pro football, college and pro basketball and pro baseball. Of the smaller sports - NASCAR, NHL, soccer, boxing and golf - reality TV is a viable contender."
Article By: Houston Chronicle