Oklahoma City, and Gabrel himself being featured in newspapers across the state. Pente Games Inc. While successful, by the second half of 1979 Gabrel was worried that he wouldn't be able to secure the financing needed to take advantage of the growth opportunities that Pente's popularity was making possible. He decided to incorporate his Pente business as Pente Games Inc. and secured financing from Dr. Lee Centraccos and his wife, Cookie Centraccos. They both had previous experience in restaurants and cable tv, and agreed to give Gabrel cash and a $100,000 line of credit in return for 20% of the equity in Pente games, a share of the profit, and a position on the company's board of directors. With funding secured, Pente Games Inc. and Gabrel pursued what they called "the backgammon example," which involved promoting Pente as a fashionable and prestigious game and selling it at $17 to support its upscale image. Their target demographic were young professionals 18-35 who were "upscale and fashion conscious." They also avoided mass merchandisers in order to avoid both the complexities of going through buyers in different parts of the country and competing with Monopoly and Risk on the shelves. They targeted local and regional gift and department stores instead. To save money, Gabrel Packaged Pente in roll up vinyl tubes instead of boxes. This was a mixed blessing, it made it more difficult for stores to stock the games on standard shelving, but it also stood out visually and distinguished itself from other products on the market. In the fall of 1979 Pente was picked up by John A. Brown, an Oklahoma department store, and sold 20,000 sets during the Christmas season. Its first full year in Business, Pente Games Inc. sold 100,000 sets, and by the end of the second year had sold 300,000. Gabrel describes the first four years as "...an incredible roller-coaster ride... but along the way, a romance turned into a business." By 1983, Pente had become popular enough that it was being called "the backgammon of the 80's" and President Ronald Reagan and Hugh Hefner were both claimed to own sets. Sale to Parker Bros. On July 2, 1983, Gary Gabrel sold Pente to Parker Brothers for an undisclosed sum. He was adamant that the sale would be the best thing possible for Pente and had assurances from Parker Brothers that the gameplay wouldn't change and that