World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions (Xbox 360)

Welcome to the World Series of Poker, or at least the video game version of it. Aside from being able to freeze everything for a bathroom break or not having to worry about getting stabbed on the way to the parking lot, this game also offers a completely different experience than the lowly Texas Hold'em Live Arcade game. Obviously, this game has the benefit of being officially sponsored by the WSoP, meaning you will be playing against some familiar faces and in some familar venues (and by familiar, I of course mean that place you saw on TV).

The single-player career mode starts with you creating a custom character. You are given a few options like hair, skin, clothes, etc. but these are in very limited supply. Since you will be competing in tournaments of 2000 or more players, it will be a common occurence to see characters who look alot alike, or maybe even a clone of yourself. To remedy this, the game is the first on the 360 to allow you to use the Live Vision camera to digitally duplicate your own face and stick it on your character. While it sounds cool, in reality it doesnt look especially good and the whole not blinking thing gets kind of creepy.

You will spend most of your time playing at one of the four casinos (from Harrahs in San Diego to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas). Each venue has four tournaments, 2 limit and 2 no limit. The idea is to build up your bankroll, and more importantly, your TOC points. Gain enough points, and you will be invited into the Tournament of Champions which, for World of Warcraft enthusiasts, would be considered the "endgame". Although it may take you a while to complete the game 100%, youre basically playing the same match over and over again. The graphics and sound are noticeably last-gen, which doesnt do much in the way of making your gambling experience a smooth and enjoyable one.

Along the way, you will unlock special chips (for everything from winning streaks to celebrity takedowns, and no that does not mean driving your Revenge Racer into the poker room and wreaking havoc), play in Invitational Events and unlock other rewards like card protectors and custom poker room furniture. Yay! Unfortunately, even with all this in mind, the single-player component isnt especially fun, and on the standard settings, takes FOR....E....VER! The multiplayer is where WSoP should shine, and it can be quite a bit of fun, especially thanks to the integration of the Live Vision camera and the hilarious dialogue your character utters from time to time, but there are some serious stability isses that can ruin your day.

For instance, whenever the host of the multiplayer room is defeated or leaves, the game "tries" to make someone else the host. Unfortunately Master Yoda wasnt looking over Activisions shoulders when they made this game, as the excellent advice "Do, or do not, there is no try" doesnt apply here. So it is not unusual to be ahead by tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars only to be booted out of a room without warning and with nothing to show for however long you just wasted trying to up your TrueSkill. In addition, even ranked matches have no bankroll restriction, meaning you can lose as much as you want without it really affecting you. So if rank isnt important to you, you could theoretically go all in each and every hand just to aggravate other players. This is a serious oversight in game design and brings down what was already a pretty average game to begin with.