Las Vegas: I love Vegas, started playing casino poker there more than 20 years ago at the now defunct Aladdin, and despite some shortfalls, like a lot of good players, it is still my absolute favorite.

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He once walked into a Las Vegas casino and challenged some of the best poker players in the world to some of the highest-stakes games ever played.

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The first occurred in 1970, when Benny Binion, a colourful cove who was alleged once to have been a bootlegger in Dallas, started the World Series of Poker at his Horseshoe casino in Las Vegas, where it is still played today.

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Meanwhile, Walt Disney's ESPN had been airing dull, static broadcasts of the World Series of Poker, the storied tournament started by Las Vegas casino owner Jack Binion in 1970.

FORBES: Poker's New Suit

Late last year the online poker industry almost managed to squeeze through legislation that would have regulated online poker in the U.S. after the casino companies in Las Vegas decided to back the effort, tired of sitting on the sidelines and watching companies like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker earn hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the large U.S. market.

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In the crowded conference room at Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas, TV cameras are rolling as the 35th annual World Series of Poker reaches its sweaty two-man climax.

FORBES: Stacking the Deck