Product Review: WSOP Hold'em Legends

If you have ever wanted to experience the World Series of Poker from home you can now on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod. All you have to do is download the official World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend application from iTunes. One of the leading iTunes game companies, Glu, has produced this application and currently has it selling for $.99. The free version does not have multiplayer and Game Center support, you also will not have access to two player venues and the WSOP Main Event and Tournament of Champions.

The game itself takes a very long time to load. However once you get past the loading screen you will see a slick introduction leading to the main screen. You will have the chance to login to your iTunes account. You can purchase more poker chips or earn free poker chips by downloading other applications or taking surveys. However you do not need to make any additional purchases and will have the opportunity to win more chips on your own.

There are multiple modes. Legend career, multiplayer, cash game, and heads-up. The legend career and cash game can be played without an internet connection. The legend career takes you along the path of a tournament player. You can buy into sit & gos, turbo sit & gos, a winner take all tournament, and a circuit event. You start at the bottom and eventually, with enough money, can play at the World Series of Poker Main Event. Along the way you will play at various Caesar’s branded venues. The players all have distinct avatars and you may see a short audio and visual clip of one particular player.

Before you sit down to play I recommend you take a look at the settings. In addition to the basics of sound and whether or not you want the player movies to be active, you can also enable or disable player tells and hand strength. For beginning players these can be valuable learning tools. One thing to note about the hand strength option is that the computer places an inordinately high value on pocket pairs and suited connectors with a disregard for your position at the table. Do not blindly follow what the computer indicates may be a strong hand.

The gameplay is a lot of fun. You choose your bet sizing and either call or fold with simple swipes of your finger. One slight negative of the betting action is that you cannot type in your bet. Since you have to slide your finger to make your bet at times it can be imprecise. If you come across a hand you think is interesting or want to save for later you have the option of saving the hand for replay.

With the ability to play online, cash games, and tournaments, this has to be one of the best poker applications available. Having a myriad of customizable characters for you to choose is a lot of fun. The short clips that Glu put together for this game make it interesting and keep it lively in single player mode. The graphics are high quality and even though there are nine players per table it does not look cramped at all. For only $.99 this game is an absolute steal.