Video game number two hundred and forty seven: World Series of Poker 2008

Video game review number two hundred and forty seven in my 365 Games in 365 Days project is "World Series of Poker 2008"

I've played some poker in my day. While I'm not the kind to throw my cash away in casinos against the pros, I have played for real money against friends, played for prizes against co-workers, and once or twice...I've even played for articles of clothing against intoxicated people. Whenever there's something real to lose (money, prizes or shorts)....I tend to play pretty conservatively. When it's just money on the computer....it's always fun to be a little more risky.

That's how I've been playing this evening.

I started playing this game almost immediately after finishing up with the disappointing Tomb Raider Legend, and I've been playing for almost four hours now.

I started by playing offline for awhile, but ended up in the online rooms as usual. It's pretty fun playing against people online. Unlike the computer, they don't seem to be able to predict your cards, and unlike the computer, sometimes they'll go all in no matter what kind of crappy cards they have.

Anyway...there's nothing particularly innovative about this game. If you have no poker games, this would be a good one to have. On the other hand, so would any other poker game. It's really hard to tell them apart. They all have the same casts of characters (if they are "official"). This particular one has all the folks I've seen in all the other games, except it also had Jennifer Tilly, who was a new edition as far as I know. I suppose it should get a slight edge for having a celebrity in it...and I won a "Jennifer Tilly Chip" for knocking her out of an offline tournament.

I'm not sure how to rate this one. It's good value for the money (you can play these games forever before you beat them). Last I checked, this is selling for about 15 bucks at Gamestop. On the other hand, for 800 MS Points, you can buy Texas Hold Em on Xbox Live Arcade. That's about 10 bucks. What's the extra 5 dollars for? Jennifer Tilly? 800 extra gamerscore? I can't really tell you.

Overall Score? 5/10. It's not bad, it's not great...it's just...average. Exactly what I expected.

Achievements: I only got two so far.