Excellent learning tool and means of using up time! A flaw though (see update).

User Rating: 7 | World Class Poker with T.J. Cloutier PC
By dozzpot | Review Date:
I have not played any of the other poker PC games (or real poker) but have found this to be an excellent game. It has drawn me in more than any FPS, RPG or RTS I have ever played; if you buy it prepare to lose hours and days at a time to it. If like me you have an interest in poker then this is a great way to learn about the game as the tips and tutorials are very useful for a beginner. You can turn them off if you don't want them and just enjoy the presentation of the interface. It's not perfect and there are not so many options to customise it but it looks pretty good.

All the popular poker variations are in there; I have only really played the Hold Em game. Both No Limit and Limit games are good and quite different to play. As well as a full table mode, which is good for swelling your funds (if you win!) there are satellite tournament tables and final table and heads up modes. You have to buy-in to the tournaments but if you get placed then the prize money swells your pot. So far on medium and difficult settings I win around half of the satellite tournament tables and place second in those I lose; you only get prize money for first place though.

Unfortunately as I have no experience of real poker I don't know if that means I am getting good or if it just means I am learning how to beat the PC game. It would be good to know how well the AI performs; I have read in other reviews that it is not bad but have not found any details about how good it really is or how it compares to 'people'!
UPDATE 29AUG08: I have just gone off this game and knocked a couple of marks off my '9' score; here's why:
I got fed up of getting far into the 'Main Event' tournament but then getting knocked out by doing something stupid. I therefore copied the save files the game generates when you exit for a rest and when I flunked out the next time I put them back in their folders and presto - I could carry on again where I had previously exited before losing all my chips. From doing this a couple of times and picking up the tournament again from the same point I have discovered that the cards are NOT RANDOM. From playing the same stage of the tournament several times I saw the same hands coming up over and over. They play out differently depending on what you do but the DEALS ARE THE SAME. I am surprised and disappointed the deals are not random (even if by cheating I discovered this!).:
UPDATE 06NOV08: I have since had a go at online poker (only practice for free!) and I now am under the impression that the deals in this PC game are scripted to make them more 'interesting'! Real poker is extremely tedious as random hands are so poor but in this game I have played a good hand many times only to be beaten by a better one e.g. a higher flush. I reckon they have done this to force you to 'make the right decision' i.e. in this example fold, because there could be a higher flush that beats you. That's my impression anyway; it's still a good game though I haven't touched it since finding free online games.
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