Intelligent gameplay
Poker is a deliberately slow game that speeds up during periods of fast or aggressive play, when the action really hots up. Unfortunately though, you cannot skip the deal, it’s only a few seconds but, in a game that slowly ticks along, it’s an annoyance that was overlooked.
Now a review isn’t the time to go through the rules, hand rankings or lingo of tournament poker, so I’ll assume that those reading have played poker before.
The action is, for the most part, unpredictable throughout each hand, with short bursts of betting, players going all-in, and a fair amount of bluffing. The NPC’s react well to the ‘action’ and, the majority of the time, will bet big with strong hands and fold with weak hands. They’ll even throw in the occasional bluff.
Click for larger imageIn the World of poker, nothing beats the feeling of knowing that you have the ‘nuts’ (the best possible hand), and watching your opponent call your huge bet. Turn over your cards and watch your fellow poker professionals ‘read ‘em and weep.’ Fortunately World Poker Tour allows for these type of moves to happen and remains consistent throughout.
The balance between the NPC’s intelligent gameplay, their reactions to your moves, and the speed of the game, is extremely realistic. Of course it is always unpredictable how players will react in real-life, but World Poker Tour seems to have 'hit the nail on the head' when it comes to a realistic experience. At times you can read the players based on the way they’ve played previous hands, whereas other times they’ll pull out a Straight when you thought they had nothing but a pair.
You can also try reading players by watching their emotions and listening to their off-putting comments. Sometimes they'll shrug, other times they'll laugh, it all adds up to the sort of things you would actually see in a poker room. World Poker Tour has also embraced the idea of bluffing. Bluffing is an integral part of any poker game and you can move your left thumbstick to portray a range of emotions to put off your opponents. If you've got a full-house, try the disappointed emotion to bluff your opponent into calling your bet. Whether these emotions actually work, I don't know, but it's certainly worth a try, and personally I'm glad to see a poker game that has attempted to include bluffing play.
Click for larger imageThe pace of the game is perfect thanks to the accurate ‘blinds’ system. ‘Blinds’ are raised frequently ensuring that the action flows as the antes go up. To speed the game up World Poker tour allows you to skip the rest of the betting should you fold your hand. This small feature means that you won’t be twiddling your thumbs waiting for your opponents to play out a hand. It seems obvious to include, but you’d be surprised how many poker games ignore this handy short-cut.
Throughout each hand, World Poker Tour attempts to jazz up the often slow gameplay, through the addition of awards for good gameplay. For example, if you win a hand with three of a kind you'll receive a platinum cheap for your troubles. It's an added incentive that pushes you to play for some of those 50/50 hands. You can view all your awards in the trophy case in the game's menu.