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As
a somewhat inconsistent but ravenous cardshark, I always enjoy a friendly round of Texas Hold'Em.
The game of poker fascinates me, and the fact that some people have the guts to compete
for thousands of dollars in exotic locales across the world adds to the daydreams that
I have at the table when I'm playing against my friends. The glory of victory and the agony
of defeat are sure to send a rush of adrenaline through your veins, and the World Poker Tour
has made it their goal to bring all the action to you on the TV screen, usually flipped through
around 3am on any given weeknight. Developers Backbone Entertainment and 2K Sports decided
it would be a good idea to put you in the driver's seat through World Poker Tour for
the Game Boy Advance, a game sure to bring out the inner compulsive gambler in anyone.
Now to be sure, it doesn't take much to make an effective poker video game. Like I said
before, the biggest thrill you should get out of it is through the game itself, a contest
that focuses on making the best combination possible from your hand and the community
cards. And with a game that bears the World Poker Tour name, you'll be thrust into the
action from the get-go. Start a career mode, and you'll put in your name, select one of
many avatars, and be turned loose with the choice of four games, Quick Draw, Casino,
Satellite, and Tournament, where you will compete against the best of the best. Not
only is the standard No Limit Texas Hold Em available, World Poker Tour offers Limit Texas
Hold Em, Limit Crazy Pineapple, and Limit Omaha High, the last two of which I am somewhat
familiar with, but nonetheless, it's a good thing that the developers wanted to offer
more options to more adventurous players. The layout for each game is reflective of
the layout of the TV show, a combination of red, blue, and shades of gray as the color
theme, and the card font also sharing that of WPT. The distinctive noise of stacking
chips, the sound of the cards flopping, the smattering of commentary from Mike Sexton,
and the applause given at the end of a good hand are all that is needed. But the most
important question you must ask of any poker video game where you aren't up against human
players is the type of AI you'll be up against. It can be either tough or extremely easy to
compete when you are a natural bluffer in real life, but when the AI is more prone to
calling or raising to make things interesting, you may have to change your style as well.
Still, this doesn't take away from the excitement you feel from raking in a pot worth thousands
of dollars. It's not like it's a bad thing if you win a lot, right? The only thing that's
really missing from WPT for the GBA is probably extra content. There's nothing like busting
an opponent and seeing his reaction in real life, but due to the limited design of this
game, you'll just see the word BUST written diagonally across the poor schmuck's face.
WPT is worth the small amount you'll pony up for it nowadays, great for on-the-go poker
action. It doesn't necessarily stand out in terms of polish, but the games move fast with
no BS and will satisfy the thirst of your inner cardshark like flopping a straight draw
when your opponent goes all in.