Poker is everywhere. You can hardly channel surf anymore without running into a World Series of Poker, Celebrity Poker or World Poker Tour rerun. Given the current popularity of poker, specifically Texas Hold’em, it’s no surprise the iTunes App Store offered no fewer than 12 different poker games in its opening weeks. It makes sense. Poker has long found a home on small mobile devices and it’s a perfect match for the iPhone. It’s such a good fit that even the mother ship, Apple Inc, has offered up their version of the game.

Apple’s Texas Hold’em sells for $4.99 in the iTunes App Store and is one heck of a poker gamer. Texas Hold’em offers 10 different venues of play in single and multiplayer (wifi) modes. Single players start their career in the garage until they win enough money to buy into other tournaments located in places like Vegas, Aruba and Dubia. Money is awarded for the top three finishers of the tournament which sometimes consist of two tables.

In Texes Hold’em you compete against players that, according to Apple, will bet, bluff and even display secret tells. Both the opponents and dealer are displayed using video of real people. There is a huge library of opponents all with their own unique, yet sometimes cheesy, animations. The dealer, on the other hand, looks and acts the same no matter which venue you play. It’s only a minor complaint, but it would have been nice to see dealers representative of the games location.

Texas Hold’em offers two different display options. Holding your iPhone or iPod Touch in the normal vertical position yields a first person experience. In this mode you only see one person at a time. As betting goes around the table each opponent is displayed giving you an opportunity to pick up their secret tell. This mode feels slower but gives you are more realistic poker feeling (as real as you can get on a phone). Tilting your phone horizontal to the wide screen position changes the games display entirely. In this mode you are presented with a more traditional top down view. You can always see the other 8 players and useful information, such as opponent name, chip count and current hand status, is more visible. While I preferred the top down view considerably, having the option to choose was a nice touch.

The game interaction with Texas Hold’em is good, if not a little slow. In both views tapping the pot opens a small bet window. In this window you slide a wheel to increase your bet or use the check box to call or check. Folding is done by manually tapping and dragging your cards to the center of the table. If you feel like things are progressing quickly enough you can tap a blank area of the table to skip through an opponent’s turn.

The AI in video poker can really make or break the game. In the case of Texas Hold’em, it does neither. The behaviors of your opponents are very typical of other computer poker games. At times the AI is so flawed it seems brilliant and at other times is predictably on point. Either way, I didn’t find the AI in Texas Hold’em to really add or take away from the game in a significant way.

Texas Hold’em is a solid poker offering from apple. The graphics, sound, menus and gameplay are all top notch and even include little details that pay homage to Apple’s roots. The tournament style setup adds considerable replay value as players try and win enough money to buy a spot at the $100,000 Dubai table. Texas Hold’em is an engaging poker game which makes good use of the technology behind the iPhone andiPod touch. If you’re looking for a good poker game, this one is well worth the $4.99 download.

By: Aaron Robbins