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Texas Holdem Poker 3D - Deluxe Edition  


  
 Poker,thanks mainly to the television and net revolution has quickly risen among the most famous table games in American Culture. Its impact has reached far and wide going as far as east to Japan. The World Series of Poker has further 

increased this gambling sports grandiose and publicity and made it come from home and bar brawls to be treated as professional sports. While Poker has many variations, the most famous of them is Texas Holdem, easy to learn and very 

difficult to master. Many computer games and simulations are available for Texas Holdem Poker, but I review one of the better ones around titled Texas Holdem Poker 3D Deluxe Edition. It's Showdown Time! 

The game begins with a nice background music (all electronic) and a background image of a casino room with poker tables and slots. The Menu is simple and without any clutter. Moving on to the game, the actual presentation of the game is 

enticing. It resembles an actual Poker table, albeit without players being visible. The voices, the chip exchange, the card flow, everything is fluidly presented and you will definitely love the 3D of poker. Actually looking at the 

graphic details wont much matter because of the actual nature of the game, but still the level of detail went in to Poker chips (you can see clearly the numbers) to the Cards to the Poker table is very good. The Cards too have the 3D 

effect as you can see the bent in them. Well nothing beats the actual Poker table, but this one comes close to actually simulating the real poker environment but without players being visible. A 3D model of the players would have been 

welcomed but still this one is better than most of the other 2D over the top view of Poker and a treat to eye while playing. 

On features, this game is rich. It offeres both Tournament and Single Player gameplay with pleothra of options to suit the needs. Single player you can choose number of players (8 maximum), AI difficulty, Starting Money, Blinds, Limits, 

Poker currency, Game Speed and many more to suit your style of play. The Tournament can be played with a maximum of whopping 160 players, enough practice for WSOP I guess. You can also change the graphics, from back of Cards to Poker 

tables etc. The information on cards and betting rounds like who has done who is displayed well with floating bards above the cards, so playing the game at high speed is not a problem. After showdown you can move your mouse pointer over 

the floating bars to actually see the nice animation on how do they won it with the cards floating on the table to show the best 5 card formed. Overall this game is very easy to use and get comfortable with no learning curves. Now for 

many first timers who don't understand the rules of poker, the tutorial in Extras section is more than enough to make you comfortable with all the basic rules to play the game. The animated way of teaching is perfect for new comers of 

Poker who are scared with those large scale tactical and strategy books available in the market. So unless you are really dumb in understanding English, the tutorial section will teach you the basic rules of Poker all right. There is 

also Help section which is basically text down version of the animated version, but with a Search Bar which again serves those inquisitive minds who want to understand what terms like Ante or Small Blind is. No advanced Poker strategies 

or tactics are discussed here though, which I think is all right since the market is basically flooded with advanced poker tactics books and since the entire help and tutorial section is targeted to new comers anyways. The game also 

incorporates Save system so no worries if you cant handle the long hours of the tournament, just save and return back whenever you want to! A high score table is also maintained which is perfect to boast around with friends or check the 

net play. 

The actual gameplay of the poker is smooth. You have all the basic three buttons and the plus or minus button to raise or minimise the amount in the pot. There is no uncomfort in actually playing the game, although the first card of flop 

is slightly blocked due to chip stack. But overall the gameplay is smooth and simple and nothing groundbreaking in the traditional virtual poker way of playing. Yea the definitive switch from 2D to 3D is noticable with cards bent over 

like in real life poker, but the switch is easy and delighting for the online 2D poker veterans. The internet play is also very good, with the room system to join and create rooms. Although in the official server not much players were 

online (just roughly 300 last time i played) but it's more than enough to garner those moments of net play. Since actual money is not involved, the online play is great way to show or further improve and practice your skills of poker 

with necessary risks. However a high bandwidth is required to play the game at true 3D effects as the game sometimes hanged while online. 

The Sound of the game actually suits the mood of Poker. It has six tracks ranging from brass to Voices but all electro and techno,but still perfectly fitting the ambient. Sure you can turn off the volume and play your favourite song, but 

as far as getting on with long hours of Poker is concerned, nothing beats the music of this game. The other sounds like of Chip exchange are decent.The in game voices of the players are good but they all repeat the same with "Oh Well" 

"Crap" "Ingenious" etc. They have variety but after long you will be bored. Also the voice of males are not much different, with only two or three variation. But than such large scale variations are hardly much needed in this game of 

just 120 mb whose main job is to serve Poker which it so rightfully does. 

I have saved the best for the last, many Poker games and simulations out on the marker lack one thing:- THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. In Most of the poker games, call or bet something, everyone folds.It's as if the programming is so 

horribly wrong with them. Come Poker 3D, it rocks. The AI simply ROCKS! I am taking a courage to say this game comes really close to the ACTUAL POKER played in the casinos and with professional difficulty that line better be removed. You 

will be hard pressed to find faults with this game AI or Poker Engine I guess. 

Each player has a unique personality and Poker strategy. And they implement it fully. Someone is bluffing, someone is check raising, someone going aggressive, someone defensive folding every hand till he gets a good one. And why I marvel 

so much at the AI is that they actually CHANGE their style of play based on the game and somewhat I think your style of play. That means they adapt to your style and likewise try their best to eliminate or get the most chips out of you. 

For example I was playing very defensive and only calling to very good hands. A certain player or Poker AI I would call was also playing on a defensive note in the starting. Only three players were left and the game was going on. After 6 

hands I guess in which I folded the last four, that player suddenly went All In BEFORE THE FLOP. Now how lucky of me that I had pair of Aces and I wanted a bit of action anyways, I called and boy what he had cards! A 2 and 9 off suit! 

The flop, turn and river favored none, so actually it was a naked bluff! Rarely I have seen some Poker AI do that. Generally Poker AI in many of the simulation just fold whenever large scale bets are made making the actual game 

laughable. But here winning is tough! The difficulty, with professional being the toughest, is perfect to challenge any poker veteran. Although the rookie difficulty I think is bit too easy considering luck favours you much in that. But 

normal is perfect and professional is for Pros! Although sometimes slight hiccups too happen in the deal as in one moment everyone has a King High Straight in the flop, turn, river (no kidding see the screenshot). 

Concluding, the game it simply rocks. The graphics and level of detail is good, the sound mixes the mood of the game, the presentation perfect and the actual game is terribly easy to use and getting hang to it. It makes you feel right at 

the Casino tables of Las Vegas. The new comers wont be petrified as the game has very good tutorial and help section targeted specially for them. The Handy Save system makes you coming back to this game more and more just to finish that 

tournament. Also never forget the near perfect Poker AI on which the game banks high and scores further high. Sure the graphics could have been better, 3D models of player would have been welcome addition, the in game voice and music 

could have offered some more variety. A random bug which I think has plagued me, sometimes freezes the game in the menu screen. But when you look at this game overall, it sure defin