Something that often gets lost in translation when explaining to someone why you play poker, is how much fun the game actually is. Many people associate the game with gambling and believe that winning money is the only reason you could have to play poker. Those people obviously haven’t played the game. Poker in all its versions has to be the most popular card game in the world today. In different ways it’s been with us for hundreds of years and now it is evolving again. There are now lots and lots of poker games PC users can enjoy.
In fact, there are far too many to list and talk about in any one place; if you just want to know what’s worth spending time and money on, then that’s much simpler. First of all it helps if you understand what it’s like playing poker using your PC. The most common thing that will stop people going back to particular poker games PC style is the speed of the game. There’s nothing more annoying than sitting there endlessly waiting for your computer opponents to play out a hand when you have already folded before the flop.
Speed of course is one issue but it’s by no means the most important of all. If you had a poker game on your laptop or computer that had a very good artificial intelligence engine then you may accept sacrificing time. What it boils down to though is how playable the game is and whether the positives can outweigh the negatives.
Ultimate Games Poker: Texas Hold’em by Avanguest software is a title that ticks the boxes for variety. There are over 75 different opponents to choose from and that’s a big plus. Each player has their own style of play and you get to choose which opponents you are sitting at the table with. The game is just so customizable and that’s what sets it apart from the crowd.
With Avanguest’s version of the classic game you can set different levels of aggression, optimism and risk. The advantages of being able to tweak your opponents make for a much better playing life of the game. So this title obviously has its merits but it is a little limited in what you can actually do in terms of type of games.
Another good example is Texas Hold’em Poker – 3D Deluxe Edition which is sold by Play+Smile marketing. They have a number of poker titles available but this is by far their best offering. It’s a visually stunning offering which as the name suggests is a good 3D representation. What makes it interesting is that in the tournament mode you have up to a hundred and twenty opponents. In the single game mode you will play with up to seven other sat at the table which is more than enough for a decent challenge.
The advantage of playing a poker game that comes from Play+Smile is that you are using a title from a software house that has already had lots of practice with other versions. If they are realizing newer titles then it must mean that they now what a customer’s wants. Plus they have had some obvious success or they wouldn’t concentrate any investment in similar products.
If you are someone that wants to play at home in order to improve your game then there really is only one title for you. Poker Academy Pro that was developed in conjunction with University of Alberta. This is bar far the most complete poker training pc based system on the market today. The artificial intelligence engine in this system is by the most advanced around. It can actually learn how you play in order to try and beat you. Learning how to beat your competition is a critical part of playing poker. In many games the cards you have are unimportant to a degree but the way you play them is.
This software will also collect data on how you play and enable you to see if you are making mistakes regularly at certain points. Sometimes you could be betting too much on the turn card and making opponents fold. It also has a pop up warning system that tells you what you’re doing is potentially a bad move. Or to start with you could have an advisor up permanently that tells you whether the odds on winning are in your favor and if you should check, bet or if you should fold.
The thing to realize though is that no matter how good you get playing poker games PC user style you should visit a casino at least once in your life. While you can have years of fun playing in front of a screen, you never really know what it is to really feel the winning sensation. That does of course mean that you never really know what it is to lose either which sadly is more often than not the case.
