GENRE
	Card/Poker
	DEVELOPER
	Digital Leisure
	PUBLISHER
	Digital Leisure
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
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One thing that seems to come with downloadable services for video games are card games. To date, however, WiiWare has only had one -- VIP Casino: Blackjack. Another one has been added to the service with Leisure Games' latest release, Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament.

There are a few different gameplay modes. Players can participate in single player free play and face off against five computer controlled opponents. There are also five different tournaments to compete in that will get progressively more difficult. The Blind bets in the game start at for the small blind and 0 dollars for the big blind. There is a timer in the top right corner that counts down; once it reaches zero the blinds are doubled. This encourages play to continue and makes the pots higher during play.

The Free Play and Tournament modes are all available for online play as well, allowing for up to six human players. This is where this game really hits it big; there really is no substitute for humans when dealing with games like this. The online play mode works well, and we never had any problems connecting to other players, though it takes about two to three minutes to find the necessary opponents before starting. Unfortunately, finding opponents for higher ranked tournaments takes longer, since players have to work through lower levels before reaching the higher echelons. This could have been due to the fact that the game was newly released and not enough people had been able to reach those tournaments.

The gameplay itself is solid, which is what should be expected in a card game. All the necessary options, such as folding, checking, calling and such are there, and players can’t choose an option that is not allowed. That means that players new to the game won't get lost as it’s very easy to tell which portion of the hand a player is in and what the options are. Raising a bet is done with on screen chips. You simply point to the various denominations and place your bet.

Graphically, the game leaves a lot to be desired for the most part. On the positive side, there is Mii support, and if a player is online with other players, that’s not an issue. The environments are also modeled quite well; they resemble card rooms in a real casino.

Yet the rest of the game doesn't look as good. The character models for the background players and computer controlled opponents aren't Miis, and they look like they were pulled straight from a Nintendo 64 game. Having such blocky opponents next to Mii characters was distracting and begged the question: why weren’t random Miis from the system memory used, rather than the ugly characters in the game?

Further, there is little to no flash in the interface. Players have a number of menu selections to choose from that are one screen of bare-bones boxes after another. There's a small selection of emotes to choose from during play, but they will not be seen unless your character is on the screen at the time, and there is no audio component with them; they are all visual.

Speaking of audio, there's very little of that as well. None of the characters speak, but there is background crowd noise to help simulate a casino environment. Voice chat would have been a welcome addition, but such is not the case. The music will make players feel like they were in an elevator and never stepped out, but it can be turned off.

Overall, this is still a decent representation of Texas Hold ‘em. Digital Leisure did a good job of making sure the mechanics worked properly, and in that regard the game works wonderfully. Yet the bare-bones presentation, ugly character models and little to no audio leave something to be desired. The game does work, and it's easy to play against human opponents, but it also feels dull and boring when it isn't your turn to do something. A little more interaction with the environment and other players would have gone a long way in making this a really good game of poker. As it is, it’s just average.

6.5/10