Casino buys ghost

[Champ]

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An online casino, owned by a Canadian-based company, offered $65,000 US on Monday for a metal walking cane that an Indiana woman put up for sale in hopes her son would believe his grandfather's ghost would leave their house with it.

GoldenPalace.com will add the ghost cane to a collection that already includes a grilled cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary. The casino paid $28,000 last month for the sandwich, which it bought - like the cane - on EBay. "It's just the new Americana thing," said Monty Kerr, a spokesman for the casino.

Kerr said the cane - which Mary Anderson auctioned to ease her six-year-old son Collin's fears that his grandfather's ghost was haunting their home in Hobart - likely will go on tour like the famous sandwich.

The cane - and the story behind it - attracted 132 bids, dozens of imitators and landed the Andersons on NBC's Today show Monday.

"It becomes a pop culture phenomenon," said Hani Durzy, an EBay spokesman. "It may be just a few days or whatever, but it's all everybody is talking about."

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/12/07/768813-ap.html

[LoZoccolo]

1. Someone should investigate...

...to see if this Golden Palace casino is working both ends of this thing - putting shills on eBay to make these things available for the Golden Palace to bid on. Net cost = almost nothing!