Previous Next

After playing the excellent Strip Poker, I never believed that another Poker program would interest me. How wrong I was. This game doesn't have slick hi-resolution graphics but wins in other ways. You play a hand with six characters from the Wild West era, each with 1000 dollars. The game is simple draw Poker with no wild cards. Each player takes it in turn to deal.

After the preliminary rounds of betting, you can exchange up to three cards before the final betting. For beginners, help on each hand is available. First, you can ask the barmaid, Moll, for her advice. Second, the machine will sort your hand into the most promising sequence, if you wish. During the betting phases, you can select a number of speed options. Whilst this helps move things along, you must select the speed each hand.

The use of graphics is simple but effective. The cards are displayed using the basic Commodore characters but look quite acceptable. As the players bid, their comments are displayed on screen. Most are amusing and certainly are displayed on screen. Most are amusing and certainly add to the flavour. Probably the main fault is the sluggish behaviour during the dealing process, after a time it becomes rather irritating.

The game plays a good standard of poker and the opponents are pretty formidable. They bluff effectively and it's difficult to decide what they're holding. If you play this game, however, I suggest you reserve an entire evening. Overall, great fun and more enjoyable than space invaders.

M.W.