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I'm a huge fan of the classic poker game, Texas Hold'em or Hold'em for short, and have been for a few years now. I find it more exciting than traditional 5-card draw/stud--not to mention better odds of winning. I'm always on the lookout for a good electronic rendition of the game. Browsing the App Store, I found one that received extremely good reviews and for a price of $4.99, I couldn't resist.

After playing for a few minutes, I was addicted to the beautiful graphics and in-game integrated video of live action opponents--each one dressed atypically as a poker aficionado. The game incorporates superb touch interaction while coupling with the unwritten style of playing Hold'em (e.g., double-tapping to Check). When betting, a cleverly placed spinner graphic allows you to easily, though slightly inaccurately, change your bet higher or lower.

Hold'em intelligently takes advantage of iPhone/iPod's smart rotation technology to switch screen modes. Doing so changes from a vertical upright view of the players to a bird's eye view of the table and each player's profile.

While the game offers the opportunity to play in various different environments (e.g., Garage, Paris, Cruise ship, Las Vegas), they are not all accessible upon your first play. The game is centered around the tournament style where you must win a game starting at the Garage table to accumulate enough money to fund your buy-in to a table in a more upscale environment. As you accumulate enough money, the chances of winning a tournament becomes increasingly difficult as requirements of winning multiple tables comes into play.

The AI is equally impressive and more advanced for a standard off-the-shelf electronic Hold'em in that the characters with whom you play each have their own style of playing the game in how they bet and bluff.

Another perk that this game offers is the ability to play in a multiplayer environment with other iPhone/iPod Touch owners within the same WiFi network. While the odds are that you will be able to find another user who happens to have purchased the game and who happens to be playing it on your WiFi network are slim-to-none, it's a great idea to encourage your friends to purchase the game and participate in this mode.

Overall, I highly recommend this game for both iPhone and iPod Touch users as it incorporates all the great features that you have come to love with these excellent touch-enabled devices. Mutiplayer via WiFi is optional which is great for iPod Touch owners. If you have your headphones handy, plug them in for enjoyable music serenading a friendly game of Hold'Em.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!