Texas Hold'em

Developer: Apple Price: $4.99 Date Listed in App Store: 7/6/2008 Version Reviewed: 1.0

Texas Hold'em was released by Apple at the launch of the App Store. That got some developers that were in the process of developing their own Texas Hold'em poker games a little upset. It's not surprising that Apple released this, a nearly identical version has been available for the iPod for a while now. But it is interesting that it was one of the two iPhone OS applications that Apple had available at launch.

I'm no Hold'em expert, but the ability of the players in this game doesn't seem to be the best. The problem I've found is that they seem to rely too much on the community cards -- the AI seems to ignore that all players have those cards. So, I'll see an opponent go all in with a pair of Kings in the community cards while holding a 3-8 off suit in their hand. Don't get me wrong, this just helps my winning percentage. n00bs!

The game can be played in either portrait or landscape mode -- landscape mode is the best by far. The portrait mode includes way too much animation and slows the game down. Your mother may like that mode.

Even with the bad AI, this is the best mobile poker game ever, I think. It improves on the iPod version as the touch controls (flick to fold, drag your chips in the pot to go all-in, double tap to check, etc.) make it easier and more intuitive to use.

Can't give it 4 becuase the AI just isn't there. Still, until a better games comes along, it's an easy win for $5.