For those that don’t have enough to do with their iPhones, alleged Russian spy Anna Chapman is coming out with an application that will allow you to play poker against her.
In an article on DNAIndia.com and also reported by ABC, Chapman is said to be releasing a special iPhone app called Poker With Anna Chapman. The application, which will be listed for $1.99, will allow players to take on the “Russian Bond girl” in a single hand of poker, either Texas Hold’em or Five Card Draw. There are prizes offered if the player is able to vanquish the virtual Chapman in the hand.
For those who win, Chapman is offering special access to several aspects of her life. The victors will earn access to a special photo gallery of the redheaded Russian, which are reported to be similar to those she took for a spread in the Russian version of Maxim. The winners will also become Facebook friends of Chapman, where she will keep her followers up-to-date on her activities, and get access to a special online blog. The advertisements for the iPhone app state that Chapman will let people know “her secrets and private life details firsthand” and get “a glance at her social life with parties, shopping, and more.”
ABC News quotes Angela Waters, the marketing manager for Zeda, Inc. (the company offering the app) as saying, “The app appeared because Anna is a huge fan of Apple products. She has been using an iPhone and Mac for quite a while and has recently got an iPad too.” The company quietly did the photo shoot for the app since Chapman is not allowed to make any money regarding her alleged activities in the United States that resulted in her guilty plea.
Chapman began her 15 minutes of fame by being arrested earlier this year in the United States as a part of an alleged Russian spy ring. The 10-member group of Russians pled guilty to conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. Attorney General and were deported back to Russia in an exchange for U.S. and allied operatives. While the other members of the group that was arrested have shied away from the spotlight since their deportation, Chapman has aggressively marketed herself to expand her notoriety and, perhaps most importantly, her bank account.
After being awarded a special medal for espionage services to the Russian cause, Chapman appeared in another photo spread for the Russian men’s magazine “Heat,” been followed by the Russian version of paparazzi as she hits the club scene, was on hand for the launch of a Russian space program rocket in Kazakhstan, and accepted an advisory position with a Moscow-based bank. The latest photo spread in the Russian Maxim and the iPhone poker application are just the latest moves by Chapman to strike while the iron is hot.
According to the Christian Science Monitor’s Fred Weir, Chapman has “made a mockery of the old KGB dictate that retired spies should fade away into anonymity, leaving nothing but a glorious public myth behind.” When it comes to the world of poker, however, Chapman is proving quite skillful at marketing her brand.
Chapman is said to be a skillful poker player, according to DNAIndia.com, so perhaps the move into the poker app world isn’t out of the ordinary. Chapman’s iPhone app joins other offerings from Apple including Annie Duke’s Poker Tutor, the World Series of Poker’s Hold’em Legends, and the World Poker Tour’s Texas Hold’em in a highly competitive field.