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Online casinos, also known as virtual casinos or internet casinos, are online versions of traditional ("brick and mortar") casinos. Online casinos enable gamblers to play and wager on casino games through the Internet.

Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. Some online casinos claim higher payback percentages for slot machine games, and some publish payout percentage audits on their websites. Assuming that the online casino is using an appropriately programmed random number generator, table games like blackjack have an established house edge. The payout percentage for these games are established by the rules of the game.

Many online casinos, like PartyPoker offer signup bonuses to new players making their first deposit. These bonuses normally match a percentage of the player's deposit with a dollar maximum.

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Though the World Series of Poker made its official debut in 1970, the idea of the Horseshoe's annual tournament was actually conceived more than two decades earlier. In the summer of 1949, as the story goes, inveterate gambler Nicholas "Nick the Greek" Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual request - to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion agreed to set up a match between Dandolos and the legendary Johnny Moss, with the stipulation that the poker game would be played in public view. During the course of the poker marathon, which lasted five months with breaks only for sleep, the two men played every form of poker imaginable. Moss ultimately won "the biggest game in town" and an estimated $2 million. When the Greek lost his last pot, he arose from his chair, bowed slightly, and uttered the now-famous words, "Mr. Moss, I have to let you go." Dandolos then went upstairs to bed. Though significant in its own way as a chapter in poker history, the five-month marathon took on added importance to Benny Binion. He noted that the public had gathered outside the casino each day to watch the game with the fervor of dedicated sports fans, and he was amazed at the attention the event had attracted. But it wasn't until 1970 that Binion decided to re-create this excitement and stage a battle of poker giants - dubbed the "World Series Of Poker" - to determine who would be worthy of the title "World Champion." Some of the best players in the country were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on top. The decision was democratic in that the champion was decided by popular vote. The following year, the winner was determined by a freezeout competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one player had all the chips. Moss again was declared the World Champion. In 1972, when Thomas "Amarillo Slim" Preston won the title and went on the talk-show circuit, the WSOP began to gain a wider following. It was only a year later that Binion participated in the Oral History Project at the University of Nevada-Reno and discussed the World Series with interviewer Mary Ellen Glass. "This poker game here gets us a lot of attention," he told Glass. "We had seven players last year, and this year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It's even liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that." Binion then paused, and as if gazing into the future, prophesied, "It will eventually." In the early 1980s, with the introduction of preliminary poker satellite competitions with lower buy-ins, Binion's prophesy came to fruition and the popularity of the World Series of Poker soared. But even Benny Binion, who passed away on Christmas Day of 1989, would have had difficulty foreseeing the enormous growth the Horseshoe's annual poker tournament has experienced in the past decade or so.

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Can't get to a casino?? PartyPoker.com was launched in 2001 and has since grown to be one of the largest online poker card rooms. At peak times, tens of thousands of players can be found playing on the site's virtual poker tables. The site is endorsed by Mike Sexton, the host of the World Poker Tour television show. Games include Texas Hold 'em (No Limit and Fixed Limit), Omaha and Omaha Hi-Lo, Seven-card Stud and Seven-card Stud Hi-Lo. Stakes range from 0.05/0.10 to 100/200 for limit games, and 0.02/0.04 to 25/50 for No-Limit/Pot-Limit games. Players can play for either real money or play money. All poker variants offered at real money tables are offered at play money tables. Party Poker offers a bad beat jackpot, which has at times grown to over $700,000 USD.