Review: All Mobile Casino 3 — Lose All Of Your Money From The Comfort of Your Own Couch

Posted by: dgoldring on Feb 06 2007

 

Las Vegas.  It is one of those places that I have always wanted to go.  It is kind of like an arcade for adults.  You go in, lights are blinking, machines are clinking, there might as well be a pinball machine in place of those slots.  Then you near the back of the room, where the tables are located.  Here is it dice and cards and chips.  This is what Vegas was supposed to be — tossing around little plastic markers which have been arbitrarily assigned dollar values while chasing that elusive one eyed jack.  At least, that is how I imagine it.  I’ve never been to Vegas, but now, Vegas has come to me.  Thanks to All Mobile Casino 3, I can fit 14 of the most popular casino games right in the pocket of my jacket.

Installation and Registration: You can download All Mobile Casino 3 and install in via Activesync.  In the trial version, you can play any of the games you want, however, it will play the same hand again and again.  Register it to have full access to the Casino floor.

Lobby: The lobby is where it all begins.  From here, sign into your account, create a new account, and get ready to gamble.  When you set up a new account, you can also determine how much bankroll to start with.  Of course, the less money you start with, the more difficult gambling will become.

Practice Mode: There are fourteen different casino games in All Mobile Casino.  As such, it can be difficult to remember the rules and strategies of each of the games.  To help you, each game includes a practice mode.  This mode allows you to play the game, without affecting your bankroll while you learn the rules and strategies. 

Another fun feature in practice mode allows you to change all of the rules of each game.  This customization is a great way to play with the games and develop your own variations.  In fact, I think I developed a few new variations in practice mode that I might have to introduce to my poker group the next time we play.

Betting: Of course, the point of every game is to win money by betting from your bankroll.  To place a bet, just select the chip menu and choose the value of the chip you want to bet.  Then, click the chip icon to bet one chip of that denomination.  Of course, you can bet as many chips as you want, and bet multiple denominations at a time by selecting a different chip value.  Once you have placed your bet, you are ready to play.  At the end of each hand or round, you can also hit the "Rebet" button to repeat your last bet. 

 

Card Games: As many of our frequent readers have realized by now, I am a card game aficionado.  Fully half of the games in All Mobile Casino are card based games, including:

• Baccarat
• Blackjack
• Caribbean Poker
• Pai Gow Poker
• Single Deck Blackjack
• Tri-Card Poker
• War

While this list is extremely comprehensive and offers a wide variety of games for your device, I was disappointed by the absence of more standard poker variations.  This game would do well to include standard stud or draw poker and Texas Hold ‘Em, which is probably the most popular card game in America today.

I also really enjoyed the inclusion of War, which is not a traditional gambling game.  I would have liked to see this concept taken further by including other card games such as Heart, Spades, and even Rummy.

Slot Machines: A vast majority of people who gamble in Las Vegas casinos go there to play the slots.  It is a quick game with the potential for a big payoff.  All Mobile Casino offers three different slot machines: Fruit Slots, Lucky Sevens, and Sporting Chance.  I was a little disappointed to find that three of the 14 games included were slot machines.  While there is a different payout scale, gameplay is no different between the games.  I would rather have seen one slot machine game with settings to control the theme and payout scale. 

Table Games: Table games come in two general varieties: those which involve dice (such as craps) and those which involve picking numbers (such as roulette).

This game includes two dice games: Craps and Sic Bo.  Both follow similar gameplay of trying to guess whether the dice will match various number combinations.  I thoroughly enjoyed both games, especially since I had not been familiar with Sic Bo before.

I was, however, underwhelmed by the variety of number guessing games.  This package includes American Roulette and European Roulette.  These are really just two variations of the same game.  They should have been combined in this package with the option of choosing between the two variations when beginning a game of roulette.  Additionally, there are literally dozens of number guessing games which are not represented here.  For example, the entire genre of "Big Wheel" games, in which you bet on a number and then a large number wheel is spun is not represented at all.  This is a fun genre of casino games which would really add a lot to this package.

Video Keno: For those who have never played Keno, it is essentially like playing the lottery.  You guess up to seven numbers, and then the numbers on the board light up.  If you guess the right combinations then you win.  Otherwise, you are out of luck…and money

Video Poker: Video Poker represents the intersection of Poker and Solitaire.  I have to admit that while I enjoy video poker for a short time, I would rather play real cards.  Essentially, in video poker, you are dealt five electronic cards, with the option of replacing up to three of them.  If your five card hand makes a winning poker hand then you win.  Like slots, I did not see the need to have six different video poker games.  I would rather have a single video poker game with the option of changing themes or stakes in the options menu. 

Statistics: One of the nice features of this game is the statistics.  It keeps track of how much you have won or lost total, as well as on each individual game.  Track your statistics to help you determine which games to play again, which ones to avoid, and which ones to practice.

Graphics: The graphics in this game are well drawn, but not eyepopping.  Unlike most card game and casino programs, there is no graphical representation of you or your opponents.  In fact, there are no opponents.  Every game is just you and the dealer, which I thought was unfortunate.  I enjoy playing against other players, even if they are computer controlled, this adds another dimension to the game and the experience.  I really missed that feature in this game.

Tournament Mode: One of my favorite features of computer casino programs is tournament mode.  I love playing against other players in a winner-take-all event.  My favorite event is the multi-game tournament in which you play several rounds of various different games.

Unfortunately, All Mobile Casino does not offer this feature.  This is disappointing because such a tournament mode would help this game elevate from a fun diversion to a necessary game on your device.

Conclusion: I enjoyed playing All Mobile Casino, however, I felt that it was missing several key elements.  While the games were entertaining, the lack of any competition or opponents made every game feel like solitaire to me.  Gambling against yourself is only fun for so long.  I enjoy casino games where you play against other characters.  Additionally, I felt this game did not properly prioritize the games it selected to include.  Over half the games were in the video categories of poker, keno and slots.  I would rather have had fewer of these games and a greater variety of table games and card games.  Finally, this game must include a tournament mode.  The inherent and the drive to win the tournament is what really hooks people into playing these kinds of games.  Without such a tournament mode, it is simply too easy to set this game down and walk away.

Vital Statistics:

Name: All Mobile Casino 3 

Version: 3.0.4

Platform: WM 2003 SE

Also Available: WM5 Smartphone 

Developer: BinaryFish

Available From: BinaryFish

                           JAMM Store

Price: $17.95 (with an additional discount for users of version 1 or 2) 

 

Technorati Tags: casino - cards - dice - roulette - slots - keno - video - poker - Just - Another - Mobile - Monday

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