I have always loved playing poker.  I may not win very often, but I enjoy my semi-irregular games with my friends.  While we are not all able to sit around a table and play together very often, that does not mean we are completely without options for practicing in between games.  Especially now that we are deep within the age of mobile devices.  I first played the World Series of Poker app on my iPod Touch, and found it to be even better than Apple’s own Texas Hold’Em game.  So, I was pretty excited when this fantastic take on the game finally arrived on the iPad.

Now, this review is not going to include a complete tutorial of the game of Poker.  I will simply assume that if you are reading this, you have a general idea of how Texas Hold’Em Poker is played,  If not, here is a handy link which may be able to help you learn quicker.   Once you are familiar with things, come back and we will continue with the review.

The main gaming interface is extremely important to poker games.  If the app is not intuitive, then you will not get anywhere trying to play, and will likely soon give up from frustration.  So, this was among the most important features to me, and I must say that I was quite pleased by what I found.  The screen depicts a bird’s eye view of the table, with nine players arranged around it.  Each player has an avatar, name, and total value of their chips.  A box beneath that will also show their last action (call, fold, bet, raise, etc…)  You can even use the player profile menu to change your avatar, though I was a bit disappointed to find that you could only choose from a number of preset images, and cannot add your own photo as a character avatar.

Additionally, not only is this a fun game to play, but it can also be an effective learning tool for those new to the game.  A meter next to your hand shows the strength of your hand, and often other players will show tells (an exclamation point over their cards indicates a strong hand, while a question mark indicates a weaker hand).  These signals can help with your strategy.  You can also replay any hand when it is over to see whether you missed any clues along the way.

The only thing I did not really like was the betting interface.  Taking a page out of Apple’s Texas Hold’em app, there is a betting dial.  Spin it to the right to increase your bet, left to decrease.  I found this system to be terribly imprecise, which is really unfortunate since betting can require quite a bit of precision when you are in the middle of a hot hand.  Surely, there must be a better way to control this critical part of the game.

The game itself is based upon a tournament style of play.  You will start off in a local, low level game, and work your way into the more competitive, higher stakes games.  Since it is tournament style, you do not necessarily need to win in order to advance.  The top three players in most games will leave with money.  You can also increase your bank roll by simply starting the game.  This is a pretty cool feature, the more you play, the more bonuses you can receive.  On the other hand, I was not a fan of the idea of using real money to purchase chips.  Not only does this strike me as a way to line the developer’s pockets, it also gives you an opportunity to create an unfair and unrealistic advantage by simply purchasing thousands of chips.  Likewise, I did not like the second chance option, which allows you to pay real money to get back into the game after busting.

Additionally, when playing in Legend Career Mode, the seven locations feature a variety of different playing modes,including winner take all, sit and go, and various circuit events…all of which leads up to the World Series of Poker Main Event and its $450,000 grand prize.  If these tournaments are not quite for you yet, you can jump into any of the available cash games.  Again, the different casinos each have increasing buy-ins, but also correspondingly high prizes if you in.  Additionally, if you prefer to test your mettle against real world players instead of the artificial intelligence, you can log into multiplayer mode and play against real players from around the world (all for points and bragging rights, no actual money is at stake)…or just play head to head against a friend in Heads-Up Bluetooth mode.  I really loved the variety this all offered, with numerous playing modes and options, the game will satisfy both beginning players and experienced gamblers alike. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the artificial intelligence.  There are several complaints you here repeated time and again when games have poor artificial intelligences.  This such as, the computer always knows exactly how much to bet, or always bets big on a hand that will ultimately win.  Pay close enough attention to these betting patterns, and you can zip right through the game.  Other complaints are that the computer always seems to get exactly the card it needs to win, and the player never does.   I was pleased to find that none of these problems were apparent with this game.  Sometimes the computer got a break, but not always.  The artificial intelligence worked extremely well.  If I did not know better, I might have thought I was playing against real players…minus the drunken brawls, of course.

I have to say that I was really impressed by this game.  It features smooth gameplay and animation, as well as a fantastic artificial intelligence.   I also really appreciated the wide variety of locations and styles of play, meaning you will always find a game to suit your skill level and needs.  Toss in daily bonuses, allowing you to earn chips just for pulling up to the table, and I am not afraid to say that this is the best Texas Hold’em game I have played on the iPad.