Gambling? It’s a mug’s game. That’s not to say we object to losing a tenner every now and again at a friend’s poker night. Hell, we even won a few bucks once. But you won’t catch us watching televised poker championships for tips before hitting those online casinos that seem to make up half the internet. However, this WiiWare take on the most popular variation of the game offers online play with zero risk of losing your car/home/wife/DSi.

In offline play there’s a series of five tournaments to play through, with the stakes increasing in each as you progress. You’re up against five opponents, represented in pseudo-Mii form. Man alive, are they ugly, and the ‘arenas’ that you play in aren’t much better. It’s straightforward Hold ’Em rules. Rather than us explain them here, take a look at here for a beginner’s guide.

Obviously it’s not the most fun ever when playing against the AI, but the online mode is good if you can find enough people to play against. Here there’s full Mii support, so you can enjoy the spectacle of Hitler, Stalin and Jesus facing off over the chips. You can also use a set of smiley icons to give your Mii an angry stare or surprised look or whatever. Supposedly this helps when you’re bluffing, though you’d have to be pretty dumb to fall for it. As well as straight tournaments, there’s a world ranking table to climb too. At such a cheap price, there’s not a lot to complain about. The game of Texas Hold ‘Em itself is mesmerizing and this is a pretty decent representation.

Jun 29, 2009