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In most jurisdictions worldwide, gambling is limited to persons at and above legal age.
Customers gamble by playing slot machines or other games of chance and some skill. Games usually have mathematically-determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an advantage over the players. This can be expressed more precisely by the notion of expected value, which is uniformly negative. This advantage is called the house edge. In games such as poker where players play against each other, the house takes a commission called the rake. Casinos often give out free items, known as comps to people who are gambling.
Comps are determined on a formula set by the casino based on the player's average bet x the number of hours of play x the percentage that the casino will win on the player. Comps can range in anything from free drinks during play to penthouse suites, free airfare, limo service, and free food.
Poker Million II returned in 2003. Snooker-player Jimmy White won the $150,000 first prize. The final was played under the Texas hold 'em rules and broadcast live on Sky Sports 1. All cards were visible via cameras placed underneath glass panels on the tables, and the players were wired to a heart monitor, so that viewers could see the top players' strategies and how relaxed or nervous they really were.
Seventy-two poker professionals played the 2004 Poker Million III, competing for the $300,000 first prize. The tournament counted snookers stars Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and 2003 winner Jimmy White, rugby World Cup star Mike Tindall and sports celebrities Tony Cascarino and Phil Taylor. Half of the 2004 players had qualified online via Ladbrokes Poker, marking the progress of the online qualifiers.
$855,000 were added in the prize pool by Ladbrokes for the Poker Million IV, and there was a guaranteed first prize of $1,000,000. Sixty-six of the finalists qualified online. Tony Jones, who started the evening as an 8/1 outsider, beat TV celebrity Helen Chamberlain.
