World Series of Poker

Based on the world's premier televised poker event, this videogame edition of the World Series of Poker tournament is based on the 2005 tournament held at Harrah's Rio Suites in Las Vegas.

Its presentation is piss-poor and its AI is so completely unpredictable and nonsensical that the game turns into the aforementioned lottery drawing where sheer luck is a much stronger ally than even a basic understanding of the game.

The PSP version of World Series of Poker is essentially a direct port of the poor console versions. It does happily include both Ad-Hoc and Infrastructure online play, but that still doesn't save the game from being a disaster in most every other way.

Let's start with an example of how one of the AI opponents played a couple hands of Hold 'Em. This guy (we'll call him Joe, it doesn't matter) is dealt two low but suited cards, the 2 and 5 of spades. Checks all around lead to the flop which brings a 3, 6 and J, one of which is a spade. So post-flop, Joe is playing a high card with an outside shot at an inside low straight. He decides to call a very large raise to stay in the hand. Fair enough, maybe he likes to gamble. At this point only Joe and the lady who raised are still in the hand.

The next two cards come and don't complete his straight, but they're both spades which give him the flush. Joe's lady friend leads each round but both players check the turn and river. Joe of course wins with his flush.

So, Joe will call a very large raise on an inside straight draw, but he won't raise when he's the last person to act for the hand and very likely has the best hand at the table. Well, OK then.

The very next hand, Joe calls a reasonable pre-flop raise with middle suited connectors and everyone else at the table folds, putting the pot at about $1,000. The flop brings A, K, K. Both players check. The turn brings another ace. Again, both players check. The river is a jack, meaning the table has two pair, aces and kings, with a jack kicker and no possibility of a flush. Joe's opponent raises a meager $200 and Joe folds.

Although it's a very good chance that he and his opponent would split the pot, as she failed to do anything when the aces and kings hit the table (meaning her only likely winning card would be one of four queens, or even less likely, Q-10), Joe decides that a $200 call isn't worth picking up a likely $700. Even if she was slow-playing the hand he's calling with a 7:2 payout on his investment. There are things called pot odds and being pot-committed that Joe, nor any other AI opponent, has any knowledge of.

It's nonsensical plays like these that destroy a game of poker. Even worse are the constantly smaller plays that seem idiotic but somehow manage to pay off time and time again, like a mid-stack player calling a reasonable bet halfway through the game with a 9-5 off-suite pre-flop and then somehow hitting a straight or two pair and cracking your aces. It's essentially impossible to slow-play a hand, set up future plays or any other common tactic as the computer players don't seem to abide by any sort of logical reasoning. In other words, you can't play a real game of poker.

And though without even decent AI it doesn't really matter, the presentation is downright terrible. Players, pro and non alike, throw their hands up in the air after winning even the most mundane hands. I've never once seen Jesus clap like a giddy schoolgirl after picking up the blinds from winning a showdown with a pair of eights, yet you'll see it time and time again.

While the console versions of the game looked OK (at best), the PSP version is a poor looking title even in comparison to other games on the platform. Characters are made up of only just above the minimum number of polygons needed to represent them as human beings, and rather hideous human beings at that. Pro players are still awful looking, and the title lacks any sort of interesting look to it as a whole, beautiful or not.

World Series of Poker Unlockables
Unlockable 	How to Unlock All in + Win Hold Em 	Go all in and win a hend before Flop in Hold'em. All in + Win Hold Em 2 	Go all in and win a hand after the Flop but before the Turn, in Hold'em. All in + Win Hold Em 3 	Go all in and win a hand after the Turn but before the River, in Hold'em. All in + Win Hold Em 4 	Go all in a win a hand after the River in Hold'em. All in + Win Omaha 	Go all in and win a hand before the Flop in Omaha. All In + Win Omaha 2 	Go all in and win a hand after the Flop but before the Turn, in Omaha. All In + Win Omaha 3 	Go all in and win a hand after the Turn but before the River, in Omaha. All in + Win Omaha 4 	Go all in a win a hand after the River in Omaha Flush Poker Hands 	Win hand with Flush Four of a Kind Poker Hands 	Win hand with four of a kind Full house Poker Hands 	Win hand with full house Pair Poker Hands 	Win a hand with pair Royal Flush Poker Hands 	Win a hand with royal flush Straight Poker Hands 	Win a hand with a straight Straight Flush Poker hands 	Win hand with straight flush Three of a kind poker hands 	Win hand with a 3 of a kind 2 pair poker hands 	Win a hand with 2 pair 3 players single hand takedowns 	Knock three players out of a tournament in one hand 2 players single hand takedowns 	Knock two players out of a tournament in one hand 100 players total takedowns 	Knock 100 players out during career 1000 players total takedowns 	Knock 1000 players out during career 25 players total takedowns 	Knock 25 players out during career 250 players total takedowns 	Knock 250 players out during career 50 players total takedowns 	Knock 50 players out during career 500 players total takedowns 	Knock 500 players out during career Fifteen players tournament takedowns 	Knock fifteen players out of a tournament Five players tournament takedowns 	Knock five players out of a tournament Ten players tournament takedowns 	Knock ten players out of a tournament Twenty players tournament takedowns 	Knock twenty players out of a tournament