Vegas, At the Comfort of Your Home

Las Vegas stands as the cornerstone of modern entertainment, all for the kiddies, the family, and even adults, if you know what I mean. Down its famed strip are landmark billion-dollar light shows they call casinos; farther down in lesser known streets hide its less-than-known restaurants and old town gambling houses, once booming in its heyday. Nowadays the corporations have taken over and sanitized this otherwise 'Sin'ful City; but in its faded years of glory Vegas was a hothouse for illegal fronts. All told, the city has both its history and its worth as the entertainment capitol of not just the United States, but of the world entire.

Part of the charm to the city is its adherence to be just about anything it wants to be. As previously noted, it's a place appropriate for the kiddies, but at the same time not. Imagine an amusement park; but instead of on a single plot of land, the amusement can be found sprawled out across an entire city. Oh, sure, there's always Reno; but in size and scope, Vegas is virtually unmatched. And, hey, there's reputation, too.

But say you refuse to leave the comfort of your couch. Or rather the comfort of the swivel chair in front of your home computer. Yes, you heard that right. While your home won't likely be able to capture the same kind of glitz and glamor of the city of sin, it will be able to harness one of its more popular pastimes: gambling and slots.

The internet. Of course I'm sure a lot of you are already aware of online slots and poker; it is, after all, one of the main factors that contributed to the big poker boom in the last decade. However, a lot of people go to Vegas simply to gamble. The point of this article is to indicate the ease of being able to play a hand of poker while still being half the world over.

The downside to an online game of poker remains the inability to physically see the other players, a drawback that, to some, may keep more traditional players away from online tournaments (being able to "tell" other players' expressions can be a big benefit). Though to be sure, online poker is endorsed by organizations such as the Kahnawake Gaming Commission; and surly that lends it a kind of legitimacy. Furthermore, a game of online poker can be a lot more accessible to newcomers. Most often, a site will give the player a tutorial to select from. A tutorial will teach players the ins and outs of the game, quickly. From there, newcomers are allowed to participate in live tournaments, all for cheap. The success story of a handful of online poker newcomers have contributed to greater respect for the game. Imagine entering a table for forty dollars, and walking out of a tournament with over two million.

So there you have it. Yes, Vegas is, and (for a long time) will stand as the cornerstone of modern entertainment in any capital. But until then, the internet is the surest bet to take you there a step closer, all without ever having left. Vegas it ain't, but at least you can still win big.