	World Poker Tour
	Developer: Backbone Entertainment Publisher: 2K Sports Release Date: Out Now Players: 1, online multiplayer	Words By:
It would seem impossible to escape from poker right now, it’s harder to avoid than car insurance or “let us help you sue someone, anyone for breaking your own stupid arse”-type adverts. Several TV channels show it (including laughably enough, Sky’s sports channels), it’s all over the internet like a rash and every single electronic device capable of simulating it has at least one version of it… Compared to some PSP titles of late you won’t be surprised to hear that WPT isn’t much of a looker in the graphics department, with barely any difference between it and the PS2 version we reviewed some time ago. The player’s animation barely does a job, the real-life casinos (including The Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, Commerce Casino in Commerce, Bay 101 in San Jose, Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantaucket, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, and The Aviation Club de France, in Paris - that’s Paris, France) look nice though. Not long in to my first session the commentary got on my wick, and playing online has a few typical PSP hitches (the game freezing as players leave your game), but once in a game it plays well enough and the variations add a bit of variety. The problem is that soon the pointlessness of it all looms large in my psyche and I have to seriously question what the heck I’m doing, playing a game on a handheld that I can play on my PC (and actually win real money) for no other reason than I’m hooked on Texas Hold ‘Em – surely the new tobacco. Presumably this is what the PSP version is aimed at; the poker addict who can’t wait for his/her next fix and needs to ‘shoot up’ on the bus/train/plane. Choosing a character you can then customise it by changing face, body hair and clothing. Amazingly enough despite the fact that you’ll win loads of cash you can’t just go on a clothes spending spree, you have to complete challenges to earn prize chips. The opponent AI is the usual mix of idiocy (as they give away what they’re holding with the “tell” feature) and impossibly cool stone-faced bluffing. It's claimed to be an "innovative artificial intelligence system that allows gamers to challenge more than 1,200 different characters, all with their own unique playing styles and behaviors" - I found the mixture annoying and at times surprising, but it still managed to entertain me for a few sessions. Once you move up the ranks and play on the tougher tables the AI gets really mean though, and the real pros (Lyle Berman, Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, Erick Lindgren, Evelyn Ng, Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi, Mimi Rogers, Mike Sexton, Vince Van Patten) don’t give anything away. The problem is that as with every other virtual poker game computer AI just doesn’t give you that human feeling of unpredictability. Yes, it can work out the odds of a particular card or hand appearing and then make an appropriate decision based on that, and irrational decisions do crop up, but certainly on the lower difficulty setting wildly insane bluffs seem to win every time (well, nearly, they are ‘wild’ and ‘insane’ after all). Using the same method as Scratchy did with the PS2 version I raised before the flop, all folded except the dealer and the big blind, no-one re-raised. You can wing your way to a virtual fortune just betting big on every hand, although on higher difficulty settings it is more probable that a bluff will get called, and that is how it should be. You probably already know whether you want this game or not; it won’t take the place of a real online session and the pointlessness of it all soon starts to slap you round the face. But if you have a dusty PSP and you’re hopelessly addicted to poker and need to play on the move then this is made for you.

Best Bits
- It’s poker on your PSP
- Online on the move

Worst Bits
- Awful animation
- Long loading times
- Repetitive commentary and poor sound
- Predictable AI


by: Jensen Buttons