Game Play: Texas Holdem (iPhone)

Chris seemed to have caught on to the fact that I was fishing him right before going all in, which is a shame since I had two aces and nearly took all his money. Holly was doomed before the river was down, but I don't think she knew it until then.

What, what the hell am I talking about? I hate Texas Holdem. It's poker for the short attention span crowd, a hypercommercial sport for people who like watching this kind of stuff on tournaments. For people who want to go to poker tournaments without actually being, like, professional gamblers.

Which is I guess why this works for me - trapped on the iPhone, it is impossible to take this game too seriously. All-in for four thousand in Paris on a pair of deuces? Ah, why not. Nobody will see your shame and you can make all that virtual money back in a half hour anyway.

There's also the fact that this game is an Apple title, pretty much a launch app for the iPhone and a textbook example of doing things right on the device. Store state when the app closes for any reason? Check. Horizontal and vertical views? Check? Designed specifically for each view, with a different purpose? Check. Multiple hints on using the touch controls correctly? Check. It's a very complete package. WiFi multiplayer? Check (LAN only, though).

The practically Sega CD memory invoking video players might make the aging gamer giggle a little, but they actually play well in the game. Bottom line is that its a solid poker title, even if you aren't the biggest poker fan.