Czech gambling companies are starting to get ready for the Winter Games in Turin, Italy. If online gambling will legalized, the Czech betting companies might lose.

The betting shops make more money as the Czech athletes are less successful. Radek ?ilhan, a spokesperson for the Fortuna gambling group, one of the five biggest gambling groups in the Czech Republic, said that most of the Czech gamblers are loyal to their nationality, therefore they usually place bets on Czech athletes. If the Czech athletes will start to win, the betting companies will start losing, ?ilhan said.

The Czech gambling industry expects the Turin Winter Olympics and the football World Cup in Germany this summer to raise their profits. The gambling industry was in decline since 2004, caused by the National Hockey League exclusion and the growing of the online gambling industry. Betting companies expect total profits for 2005 to be similar to the former year.