Customer Reviews

World Poker Tour Plug and Play Platinum Series TV Game

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

An avid fan of the WPT (World Poker Tournament), on-line poker play and bi-weekly family Texas Hold'em Tournaments, I was very curious about this product when I saw it advertised on a recent edition of WPT. My husband and I brought it home and couldn't put it down! Perfect for beginners or seasoned Texas Hold'em Fans, the game comes with a DVD packed with everything you need to get started and the Plug and Play game has a handy tutorial feature that is suited for beginners, intermediate and proffessionals.
Game play is in 2 modes, Multiplayer mode and Tournament mode. In Multiplayer you can play up to six 'real' players or supplement with computer generated competitors of all skill levels. You can choose fun icons and characters to represent you and your fellow players. Game play in Multiplayer can be slow, mainly because you have to pass the controller between all the players so they can privately see the cards they have been dealt and place their bets throughout the round. But that is my only complaint about the game!
In Tournament mode you have a chance to play on your own in a realistic tournament setting, and follow the WPT through a full calendar season. There are different types of games to enter with different buy in amounts and ante's, each has it's pros and cons. But it is fun and challenging and a thrill right down the last 'All in'. You can also view your player stats and overall standings in the WPT virtual world.
This game is a great value for the money, and for fans of Poker it never gets dull because the game changes just like a real-life version, you never know what will happen on the 'flop', 'turn' or 'river'!

This game is absolutly great!! I have played a lot of computer poker games but none of them actually gives you the thrill of this one!! When you play multiplayer games, the LCD screen gives you the chance to look at your adversary for tell when he get the controls and look at his cards. I still cant understand how they can sell it at this rediculously low price. If you are a no-limit fan and specially a WPT fan you got to get this!! The DVD that comes with it is great too!! Its a 45 min. special WPT show that explains a lot about NLH, tell, bluffing, etc...

I've played a few of the "Texas Hold Em" games out there and this Plug and Play (to your TV) one is the best one by far.
The thing that seperates it from the others is it plays AUTHENTIC and by the Rules. The game does it ALL... so it appeals to the beginner and Diehard Poker fan/player. The graphics are decent... the Computer players are solid and the game even saves your Progress as you can create a few profiles.
It's also possible to play this game in Multi-player mode by passing around the controller which has a built in screen to show each player what cards they were dealt. The reason I got this was because you can take it with you and have Gaming on the Go away from home. For this Price it's a no brainer purchase if you like playing "Texas Hold Em". I'm "ALL IN" on this game.

I was sceptical about this game because I thought that the computer opponents would not be a challenge. I play poker on-line against human players all the time and you never know how well your opponents can play. I am amazed at how this game simulated real players. The multiplayer funtion is amazing with the screen on the controller showing your cards, while hiding it from your friends. The tournement games are cool too. It really simulates playing against 50 people while you are at a table of 6. It's like other games are going on while you are at one table.
I highly recommend this game to ANY level of poker player. They really did a great job with this one.

Yes,the controller is a mini WPT final table-how cute...I've been playing for over a year now(I paid $30 Canadian and still think it was worth every penny-even though the blue B button is now starting to make clicking noises, it still works fine) and still play it once a month even though I have 5 PS2 poker games that I enjoy more.

The characters in this game don't speak but at least it spares you from hearing repeated phrases that occur in all the other poker games currently on the market(though you could always just turn the voices off,if you wanted to).Also,if you make the final table(of 6)in a tournament you'll get to hear a mono version of the WPT theme before the round starts,which is a nice touch.

The A.I. in the later rounds as the blinds increase gets very aggressive.I would say it's the most agressive CPU A.I. I've come across so far(excluding PC games).The PS2 WPT videogame checks way too much but still is more fun to play overall(tons of variety)and it's cards are big,colorful and easy to read.The PS2 videogames,World Championship Poker 2,Stacked and World Series of Poker come close at times to the aggressive betting style(constant raising)that this WPT plug & play game incorporates but still are not as consistantly wild.

With this plug & play WPT poker game,even though I've unlocked the ability to access any of the 9 different tournaments and 9 different satellites as well as cash games(the tournaments have from 50 to over 300 people in each)instantly because I got enough points to become the WPT Player of the Year and have over 14 million dollars;it was mostly done by cheating(the game will auto save after you win or lose,but if you lose,you can just shut off the unit before it auto saves and you won't lose your buy-in amount.You have to start from the beginning of the tournament again but this way you can be reckless with your all-in's and still have enough money to enter again)because the CPU players are maniacs and killer tough.The CPU will bluff ALL-In with garbage one hand and then All-in with pocket aces on the very next hand.You just never know what the CPU has.

Even so,it will play logically most of the time and even slowplay top pair.The CPU will only make the occasional questionable play but that's allright since they all play with different skill levels I assume(you can only adjust the CPU players individual skill levels in multi-player mode).It is,however,a bit too easy at times to make a small bet on the flop from early position and have all the 5 CPU players fold;even the big stacks(though,even in the PS2 game Stacked,I can sometimes get a huge stack to fold against my tiny all-in bet).

In this WPT plug & play game you can also go all-in and frequently get them to fold,but if they have a hand-look out!So going all-in or limping in with garbage,is very risky in later rounds especially when you're playing against some of the top 10 players whose names and faces always stay the same so you can recognize them(as opposed to the other characters who look the same but have different names).

After an all-in showdown the cards are turned over at a slow enough rate for some suspense but I'd prefer to be able to press a button to turn over the cards after I figured out what the percentages are for my outs(as no %'s are shown like on TV or in the PS2 version).You can set the CPU's betting speed from slow to fast and can also just press the blue B button to make them bet right away.

Rules-wise,one thing this game does differently than the PS2 WPT game is that on the TURN and the RIVER the minimum bet is supposed to be DOUBLE the big blind,but NOT in this game. However, most casino and tournaments don't double these bets in No-Limit games anyway. One minor thing I do like,is that if a pot is currently let's say $500 and you then bet $200(making the pot now $700)causing the other CPU players to fold,it will show that you won $500(because the $200 of your last bet was never called,thus not officially part of the pot)whereas all the other poker games will say you just won a $700 pot,which is misleading in my opinion.

Also,the game will only flash and freeze if your four ALKALINE AA batteries get weak after 20 hours of use.If you use REGULAR AA batteries the game will freeze in less than an hour.That's why another reviewer was probably having trouble with freezing.

The game will save your career stats(such as % of flops seen while the small blind,etc.)and also let you see your current game stats at any time just by pressing the red pause button on the front side of the table.The graphics are passable and in color.As well,the cards are big enough and easy to read.Though none of the players bets are shown beside their names(they only appear briefly in the betting window at bottom),so if you have the CPU betting set to Brief Delay(like I do)you'll only know how much you need to call with and not for example which players raised or re-raised or by how much(if there's more than 1 CPU player still in the hand).

One of the more annoying things about this game is that you have only 30 seconds to make your bet(it has a countdown circle meter-you will hear the clock ticking during the last 15 seconds to warn you)or else you are forced to either fold or check(if checking is a possibility).

The other dumb thing is that you CAN'T save in the middle of a tournament! Yes,it makes it tougher to cheat but it's still annoying to sit through 2 hours straight of playing a close match only to realize it's time for work.That's why I prefer my PS2 poker games(only World Championship Poker 2 and Hard Rock Casino don't let you save in the middle of a Tournament.)

So,by all means,if you're a poker fan and want to test your skill and luck against some of the wildest players ever(thus the 4 star rating),buy this game and after months of practise you too should be able to win some of this game's tournaments without cheating(or at least come close).

I have tried all of the "plug-n-play" and handhelds -this one is the best.It is very tough to get to the money in the tournaments.I like the programming because the players are more aggressive(they are usually semi-loose to semi-tight).I prefer to play against aggressive opponents because it forces you to make tougher decisions.If you are really into graphics more than the game you may find it substandard.Even with its few flaws youll find this game highly addictive and entertaining.

From what I can tell, this game WOULD be fun: it saves players' profiles, you can play head-to-head against computers or against your friends, and the play is decently challenging though the graphics suck...

But both modules I've used so far (I returned the first one) have died on me within 24 hours of my playing the game. I had fun with the first module on Day 1 (played it for about three hours straight) and was looking forward to playing it again the next night when it kept spontaneously resetting or freezing on me. So I returned it and amazon was nice enough to send me replacement.

The replacement module I got worked for the half hour test run or so that I gave it. Then on Day 2 -- you guessed it -- it conked out, losing both audio capability and proper video (the screen was majorly distorted and fuzzy), rendering play impossible.

I'm going to give the game one more shot when I go home tonight, but I'll probably have to return this second module to amazon as well.

This is not a good sign. Like I said, the game would be kinda cool if it would last for more than one night of play!

This is a very fun game and definitely gives you the "just one more game" thrill you're looking for. You can adjust the speed so that once you get the hang of it you don't have to wait nearly as long for the game's bells and whistles.

My problem is during the tournaments. The game keeps a running total of how many players are left. But it seems that people are dropping out like they were giving away mansions down the road. You can start with 100 players and have it down to 85 in just ten hands. That becomes an issue because the money that those players lose has to go somewhere, and when new players fill in empty seats at your table they often have ludircrous amounts of money in hand. A few exits at your table and you can go from chip leader to shortstack without calling a hand.

It has bad graphics but is easy to play and very addicting.
The Career mode is very interesting because it gets harder as you go along. With more players joining as you go from city to city with the Poker Tour. Overall it is a great game.

I got this for my grandfather who has cancer and is stuck in one spot. He loves the games and when he loses claims it is cheating (LOL). I was disapointed in the graphics, but the multiplayer fun made up for it. I wish it didn't run on batteries.... he says that they last a while, but that is another unnessary expense.