Monday, December 21, 2009

Poker - No Download Five Card Draw Game

First off, I want to apologize as I just realized my sudden switch of the blog theme caused the embedded PokerListings video in the previous post to not be completely visible. Anyway, if it's too anoying, simply head over to their own video archive and find the video on their site.

Now, let's get on to this post!

As we're approaching Christmas, what could possibly be better than getting to know a no download poker game for the most commonly played variant of the game at American kitchen tables all over the country - 5 Card Draw poker? Perhaps 5 Card Draw with a weird, Japanese twist to it?

Or, uh, perhaps that wasn't all too Christmas-y. Well, anyway I've taken the time to review yet another play-money poker flash game, and this one is - simply enough - just called Poker.



Gameplay is fairly simplistic, with the classic rules that every American citizen probably knows by heart. The "cute" anime blobs with angry poker faces that represent you and the three computer opponents get through a basic game with few options to let you screw anything up. However, it was a tiny bit confusing at first - I didn't realize I'd have to click the chips themselves to up the bets but rather only called by pushing the "Bet" and "Next ->" buttons. Also worth mentioning is that they've managed to not get that it's called folding, but instead there's a "Drop" button.

These things don't really affect the gameplay, though. After you've gotten a hang of it, it's a decent game. The AI isn't too bright, so to new players this could be good practice before trying out any real-money poker.

On the downside, the sounds are horribly annoying, so I'd suggest you play this with the sound muted.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Great Poker Strategy Video - Why You Shouldn't Slow Play

I just found the vast video archive over at PokerListings, one of the biggest online poker guides out there today, and in my opinion, one of the best poker sites out there. I plowed through it and as newbeginner online poker player, I took most interest in the strategy video section.

This video is on the subject of why inexperienced players shouldn't slow play hands, and is carried out by PL's in-house strategy writer Daniel Skolovy.

I think he makes very good points and explains in an easy-to-understand way, complete with a number of explanatory hands carried out in a hand-replayer software in the video.

Check it out!