Games & Applications

Microsoft has recently announced that a new poker game exclusively for Xbox Live will soon be introduced to occupy the space of 1 vs. 100, a social game shut down earlier. Full House Poker will be downloadable for free.

A screenshot form Full House Poker

FHP has been announced by Microsoft to hit Xbox Live during Spring, 2011. Representing players by their avatars, the game will feature tournaments and heads-up games in the style of popular televised events. Playing against bots (that is, computer-driven opponents) as well as against fellow human players will be possible, but real money games don’t seem to be available.

PokerControlsTM has recently introduced their latest product to make life easier for all of you who feel that the keyboard and mouse combo is either insufficient for your gaming style or simply out of fashion. The Wireless Poker Controller is a gadget designed specifically for online poker and is compatible with all the major poker rooms.

“Now there's no need to worry about making the wrong move or not having enough time to make your bet,” the product info reads at the official website. It also adds that “Poker Controller can help both beginners and pros to increase their bet speed, accuracy, avoid errors and generally play more comfortably and efficiently.”

Znyga Poker is an interesting phenomenon in online poker. Offering play money poker only, and integrated into Facebook, they have succesfully built a huge player base due to the bigger (offering real money play) poker rooms' failure to account for their play money division properly.

They recently updated their software on Facebook,
now offering Mandarin language as well

Bill Rini, considered expert in poker, wrote about just this in his blog post published today, I recommend it to everybody. He argues that even if the US will allow online poker, Zynga won't stand a chance against the likes of PokerStars and Full Tilt, as predictions say. You can find the post here.

Do you know how often you are dealt pocket aces? Or what Doyle Brunson’s favourite cards are? Do you recognise the most important faces of poker from the first glimpse? Yes? Than here is a quiz for you to put your knowledge of poker strategy and the world of the game to a test. No? Well, it’s time to find the answers out, then, so head for this little questionnaire and see if you truly are a novice or have some guesses in terms of poker after all...

You can find the quiz here.

Always wanted to know what would it be like to play poker with The Heavy, Tycho, Max, and Strong Bad?

Well, I haven't. But seemingly Telltale Games thought that there are a lot of gamers out there who won't miss out a chance to bluff the Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2 to see if they can survive his good friend Sasha, the minigun.

Released on 27 July, StarCraft II is one of the most anticipated titles of the past decade in the PC player community. Many of the committed players of the 1998 first instalment are also pro or semipro online gamblers. Question is to what extent will SCII affect online poker?

Besides Zynga, another Facebook game provider, Disney-owned Playdom, has its own poker application on the social network, Poker Palace. Only it is called World Series of Poker now.

According to the Games.com Blog, in a world of brands developing their promotional games, re-branding an existing application is far from usual. Nevertheless, with Facebook being crammed with poker-related games, it seems to be a wise decision not to introduce yet another one into the market, not to mention the difficulty of building up a community around a new game. The merge provides a solid base instead and also helps Playdom popularise their application with the venerable brand.

Zynga, the most successful application creator has signed another five-year contract with Facebook. Zynga has countless other successful applications available on Facebook, including titles, such as Mafia Wars, Farmville and CaféWorld. Over 65 million people play their games every day, and this is only the Facebook users.

Developers like Zynga are able to write any software and application for Facebook, which gets easily publicised through the enormous and ever-growing community of people on the biggest community network. For example, if we install the Zynga Texas Hold’em application on Facebook, we will be able to challenge not only our friends, but also relatives overseas and the friends of our friends.

The rules of the WSOP also have to follow technological development. So what do the rules say about a poker player who sits down at a tournament with an iPad in their lap?

Apple released the iPad in the United States this past April, and by the end of May, it was made available in nine more countries and has sold more than 2 million pieces so far. Just in recent times, it started to appear at the poker tables, just like the iPhone, iPod and PSP did earlier.

Project Natal which is the code name for the new sensor for the Xbox 360 enables full-body motion to be used as a controller. Designed by Microsoft, Project Natal will be an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 and is said to not require any additional hardware upgrades to existing 360 consoles.

Steve Jobs, one of the biggest IT gurus of our time, showcased and released a new product for his company Apple this January. The iPad, the bigger brother to the iPod, could not only have a positive effect on Apple’s sales, but maybe also on online poker.

Is Steve Jobs ready to give up Apple and begin a poker career?

Basically, the iPad is a bigger and better performing iPod and considering this it makes it a prime launch tool for online poker. The screen has a dimension of 9.7 inches and supports the resolution of 1024x768, about the same as a reasonable price netbook. But where the iPad comes out stronger is with its sleek and ultra-thin design, as well as touch capabilities.

Get ready for some great entertainment in Youda's new game, the Governor of Poker. Just being a newbie at this game my first impression where Wow! What a creative and exciting platform to relax a play some fun Texas Hold’em Poker. The Governor of Poker is not like any other poker game I have ever played and definitely stands out with its uniqueness.

Got the need for speed? Do you always like been in the action? Then Full Tilt Poker has the solution for you, with its Rush Poker game. Rush Poker launched on the 19 January 2010 is designed to be an action packed fast poker experience, with the means for players to set their own pace.

Exclusive to Full Tilt Poker players, the new format gives the player the option of “Quick fold” if they are unhappy with their hand. Quick fold enables the player to move onto a completely new table with a new hand (chosen at random from a pool of players). Quick fold makes a player able to choose their own pace without waiting for the other players. Rush Poker is truly a fast paced game and is like playing several tables at once from the one table. Rough estimates calculate that a player could achieve around 250-275 hands per hour per seat. Also having the opportunity to have 8 seats going at once, there will be no lack of entertainment.