Customer Reviews

World Class Poker With Tj Cloutier (PC & Mac)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Long before the young guns and the hidden cameras helped turn poker into a national franchise, TJ Cloutier was busy racking up a record 59 wins in professional poker tournaments; including 36 appearances at the final table in the World Series of Poker and three consecutive wins. World Class Poker is a solid title with sharp graphics and quick, fun gameplay. Alas, I'd be lying if I said this will turn you into the next tournament champion.

World Class Poker takes up about 800MB of hard drive space, but you can save half of that by running the videos off the CD. I was disappointed to see the maximum resolution is only 1024x768, however you can choose to play either in full screen or windowed mode. Once the game boots up, you enter your name, then select from three difficulty settings and the game you wish to play. You're given a choice of Omaha, 5 Card Draw, Seven Card Stud, Texas Limit, Pot Limit and No Limit Hold Em. You can also choose from various tournaments including No Limit, Limit, and Pot Limit Texas Hold Em in both single table satellites and multi table shootouts. Finally, you can compete against computerized TJ in the granddaddy No Limit main event, provided you've won enough to afford the $10,000 buy-in.

Options are prevalent, but statistics are limited. The dealer's voice gets annoying as he says the same thing over and over, plus the players make some really asinine comments such as, "I've seen better hands on a mannequin" or, "I'm going to make like a lawn-chair and fold." Uh... yeah. You'll be adjusting these settings real quick. As far as statistics, you can pull up the history of the past few hands you played, but there are no options to summarize so you'll be forced to read everything line by line. You can also see the amount of time you played, the number of hands won and the amount won, but that's it. The best feature of the game is what is known as "TJ's tips." As the play moves around the table to you, a small box appears on the bottom right with TJ telling you how he would play the hand. If it's the first time he's giving a particular piece of advice, a small video screen pops up with him explaining what he would do. Masque wisely made it so that the video will only show up once so he's not saying the same thing over and over. After that, it'll just be in text. Another nice feature, especially for beginners, are 88 questions involving hand analysis. TJ pops up on a small video screen along with a multiple choice question involving how you would play a certain hand. Once you make the selection, he will tell you how he would have played it and why.

Everything up to this point is fine. Masque has a solid track record of programming great gambling related software and I think their Slots programs are some of the best on the market. But the most important part of poker software is competent A.I. and, unfortunately, this program just doesn't cut it. This is evidenced by the fact that I, as a beginner, found myself easily able to battle back in ring game tournaments even after taking some bad beats. I was even able to knock out TJ personally and win the main event after only a few plays. This is from a beginner. Something tells me TJ won't be so easy in real life. As far as the different players are concerned, I was able to detect some differences in the way they play. Some were tight and passive, while others were loose and aggressive, but this was only at the highest difficulty setting. In easier settings, the play was completely illogical.

Since I am a beginner in Hold Em, it would be unfair of me to speculate on the weaknesses of the AI as I could be wrong. However, I am competent enough at Seven Card Stud that I could tell the problems are severe in that game. In one instance, a player would check down all the way to sixth, then bet out with only a pair of fours. In another instance, the AI would aggressively bet into me with a pair of deuces even though it was obvious I was drawing to (and likely made) a flush. When playing against one another, computer players will bet aggressively on 4th and 5th, then suddenly fold even when the other player catches ugly. If a computer player checks to you on 5th and you bet into them, they will almost always fold. Even at the highest difficulty settings I saw the AI call down an ace high four flush on board even though they had no chance of drawing better. The AI seems to play based on the strength of their individual hand, but doesn't take their opponent's hand into account. The most glaring example of this was a player who insisted on capping the river with threes full. Considering her threes were all showing on board, it should be obvious the reason I was raising her was because I had a better hand. If you're going to cap a hand like that against me, you better at least have quads.

After a while, it seemed that, even on the highest difficulty, I had the computer's method of operation down pat. On third street, the highest card always raises. On fourth, highest on board always bets out. Not until fifth street does the computer appear to bet on strength and usually if they don't improve a pair, they'll simply check down to the river. Knowing only this, it becomes really easy to bully players around. I turned $5,000 into $10,000 in an hour. Sigh, if only it were so easy...

So the search for good poker software continues. I know Pokersoft makes a program called Poker Academy that purportedly has the most advanced AI out there. Unfortunately it appears you're only getting a "dumb" version of the AI when you buy it from Amazon. In order to get the "smart" version, you have to shell out another hundred bucks. I think I'll wait for "Stacked" when it comes out in 2006. It claims to use the same "Poki" A.I. that Poker Academy uses. Developed by researchers at the University of Alberta (wacky Canadians...) Poki claims to be able win consistently against average players as it can adapt to an individual player's style. We'll see if it lives up to the hype.

I really didn't know what to expect when I bought this software and I was pleasantly surprised! Cloutier plays a good game of poker and he helps the player attain those good attributes as well. He makes interesting comments and the tips sections with regard to the math of poker and other concepts are really helpful. The only knock I had against the software was the lack of statistical data presented to you during the course of a hand. I would like to see more of it. Of course it is possible I didn't dig deep enough into the software to find it. I can't comment on how "realistic" the AI is for the game because I figure nothing can be as complicated as real play. Unfortunately, the only way to get real life experience is to play with real life money, but this software will give the player a good fundamental base.

JK

Disclaimer. My experience is based on 5 card draw only, as that's what I normaly play.

The Pros - I've tried a lot of PC poker games and this is by far one of the best. Loads up quick, allows windowed mode, and the graphics are modern and clean. There is a full array of poker sounds as well - such as clinking chips and the flapping of cards - to really give the feel of the table. The AI is OK.

The Cons - One reviewer talked about hand repetition. This is %100 true. I played for an hour once and kept gettin low number pairs. Additionaly, the AI is not only predictable, but it's strange and unnatural. PC players almost never bluff. If you have a pair, someone will have a better pair. If you have 3 of a kind someone will have 4 of a kind. If you have a really good hand, even if you bet conservatively, the other players will fold. Now you may think I'm crazy but this all happens to me 7 out of 10 times. Can't explain it, just think it's strange. Another beef is that you cannot set the number of players.

Anyway, it definately doesn't feel like real poker. But it's fun nonetheless , just a bit quirky. I would still buy it. Like I said I still think it's one of the best.

a practice game for me, before playing my weekly poker game. It has a really good AI, its challenging, and gives you a lot of good tips.

I only had it for three weeks, but it certainly has helped my game. It stopped me from playing a lot of the throwaway hands I use to. The visuals are good, and the amount of control you have on the game variables are nice. The only knock, is that a lot of the players AI strategies are either really easy to figure out, or really hard. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.

I would strongly recommend it, if you want to build up your poker skills.

This game is scripted to the nth degree with built-in "bad beats". Want to test that assertion? In the middle of a hand, power off you computer but recall the hand that you were dealt. When you go back to the game, it will deal you the exact same hand, over and over and many times as you do this test..So much for random deals. Also, if you get aces or kings, look out because even if you go all in, one of the players will call with something like J-10, and strangely enough when you and he are big stacks! Who calls an all-in raise for, say 2 million chips with a J-10 offsuit and you and the raiser have the same relative chip count? Bingo! A player who knows that the board will be K-Q-9! Once i was heads-up with the computer T.J. Cloutier and he called my all-in raise of aces with a Q-4 and the flop came Q-4-4! Again, do the power down test mid-hand for yourself and see if it doesnt deal the same hand over and over. My copy of this game has hit the garbage bin. If you want to be frustrated by a pre-determined program then don't say that you were not forewarned!

I bought this game for my husband who loves poker. He watches it on television and plays this game everyday. He reads books on the subject. He had a stroke almost four years ago so I bought this game for him to help his thinking and responses. It has produced much improvement. He is still challanged by it even though he has won and lost millions of imaginary dollars. He has had other similar games but none so interesting as this one. He takes great pride in that he has beaten the creator many times, the master of the game does not know how much help he has been for my husband's thinking.

This is the best training tool I've enountered so far. The artificial intelligence is suberb. T.J.'s tips are extremely helpful. I have found leaks in my game by playing this software program. I wish I had an Omaha Hi-Lo version of this game. microbet

It's fun to play, but not very instructional. Plus a "player" or 2 will stay in with total garbage, which I doubt is true in real life situations (I've never played in a live game-I'm just a student). Can be valuable to test theory with if used alongside a good how to book. The vendor did get it to me ASAP.

If I'm not mistaken, TJ Cloutier holds the record for most in-the-money finishes at the WSOP tournaments. I think he also holds the record for most final tables. Although, he doesn't hold as many bracelets as Brunson, but still in my opinion, he's one of the best. I met him once at the WPT at San Jose, Ca back in 2006 and he's like 6'6". Just a little first hand info.
The game is fun, and Cloutier has some pretty straigh forward tips for you pre-flop, and post-flop. He even shares a short guide of tips that summarize his game.
The AI players play solid, and I have come across some cold bluffs at times. Its a pretty good game. I recommend it.
For the price its a steal.

The fact that you only get advice on No Limit Hold'em was a great disappointment. But I guess for the price it's what I should have expected. Plus, I should have read all of these reviews before ordering. I'm looking forward to playing Wilson's Turbo Texas Hold'em which is currently on it's way to my mailbox.