Whats your personal theory regarding the reasons most chiefly responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire? Go on, take a few moments to consider this confounding historical conundrum. Do you favor the notion that the military had become stretched dangerously thin by virtue of a number of fruitless campaigns scattered across what was then the known world? Or do you perhaps hold with the theory that Roman society had simply become bloated with its own excess and decadence, and was therefore destined to collapse from within? Neither of those theories strikes your fancy? Then maybe you are one of those loony individuals who attribute the fall of Rome to an alien invasion by little green men from Uranus. If you really believe that, by the way, theres a good chance your head is up...well, you can finish the sentence.

My personal theory, one which Ive been developing for quite some time now (aided by exhaustive research and the delivery service of a local 24-hour liquor store) is that the dissipation of the Roman Empire can be directly traced to the lack of good online poker available to the sons and daughters of Romulus.

Think thats a ridiculous idea? Well, before you smirk, maybe you should get on over to Empire Poker and see the plethora of gambling options available there to lovers of the game. Talk about a wide variety. Bear in mind, however, that is no pot-limit version in any of the 7-Card-Stud games or in the Omaha High games here. Not that this is apt to put a dent in your fun with so much else going on.

From the get-go, you will notice a really strong sign-up bonus offered to you at Empire Poker. Check out the 20 percent deposit match, up to $100, exclusively for people who access the site via PokerListings.com And be sure to stick around long enough to play 500 hands within 30 days of your initial deposit, and youll get another $100 bump(equal to 5 raked pots per dollar.)

But the action does not stop there. When playing at Empire Bonus, you will also so encounter a respectable loyalty bonus opportunity in the form of a brand-new VIP program for the big players. In addition, as a frequent player you are bound to rack up a range of general freerolls and promotions based on raked hands. If only the Romans had access to such a poker bounty, perhaps history would have been written much differently.