Just for giggles I logged on to Party Poker to play a few games before I installed this new title. Frustrated with the length it took online players to make decisions, I quickly closed out the game installed WPC and was ready for some serious quick play. Boy was I wrong. If going from player to player wasn't bad enough, the time it took me to bet sure was. I'm a huge hold 'em fan, heck nowadays who isn't with all the hype the game gets from TV. I play with my friends, dabble a bit in a few local tourneys at the local casino, and play online. I would not go as far to say I'm a Guru of the game, but I know a flop when I see one.

First off the view of the table is very annoying. Rather than a top down view, every player kind of whizzes by you. Imagine having a camera sitting on the middle of a table on a lazy Susan. Then at each player's turn, the camera swivels to get a view of them. The view is nothing but what looks like a cardboard cut out of some really hokey-looking players. There are 20 characters to play against, how they made it to the championship is beyond me. Few animations and nothing else, BORING! Then you have to hear the monotonous commentary that repeats the same lines over and over. Here is the real icing on the cake. If you want to raise or bet, you have to keep clicking the mouse. God forbid you want to go all in because this can take a few minutes. A slider bar, or the ability to click on different chip amounts, or even an all in button would have made this at least bearable. Instead, you have to click what seems like a million times to make any substantial bet. Oh yeah, and since when do you see another player's hole cards after they fold. UGH!

There are four games to choose from. They are Hold Em, 7 card stud, Omaha, and 5-card draw. The game does pose a challenge. You have to earn set dollar amounts to play in different casinos. This does give the player a goal to shoot for and keeps some interest. It the annoyances above that make you want to fold on the game altogether. When I play cards I like a fast-paced game. I thought with AI players this would be a surely speedy game, you can imagine my disappointment. If it were not for the monotonous betting debacle, this would have at least been somewhat enjoyable. Click, click, click, gosh this takes forever!

Even for a "value" game, I do not see a whole lot of value here. The Hoyle card games are so much better, and set at reasonable price. It was the NO LIMIT HOLD EM that caught my eye, but I would much rather play from a free download then endure paying for a copy of this. If I was 12, it might be a different story. So here is my opinon, if you haven't figured it out yet. If you are a young lad or buying this for younger demographic, they will probably be pleased and have some fun. But for any fan of the genre in the older age group, I would pass on this one.

Graphics: 7
Not terrible, but lackluster. The characters have few animations and do not talk or taunt in any way. It's like playing with cardboard cutouts to say the least.

Sound: 7
Average. Music isn't nearly as annoying as the commentary is. As far as sound effects go, how much can you really do while playing cards?

Concept: 6
Great idea, but something went a stray on the execution.

Multiplayer: N/A
You can play on a LAN or via the Internet if you know an IP address. When I tried to host a game I found it impossible, and with no instruction manual or read me file, I was just left holding my cards.

Overall: 5
You are better off downloading a poker game from one of the sites you might see advertised while watching any poker tour on TV, just click on the play for free option.