There's not much I know about poker, expect that it's a card game commonly played for money. I've never really played this game, nor do I even follow the World Poker Tour - which could make the wrong person to review this game. However, I guess you could say that my lack of knowledge makes me unbiased.

I learnt a lot from not actually playing the game for a while. By leaving it on the menu screen, I was introduced to World Poker Tour professionals, proper video footage of them in action, mini-documentary style interviews, and I got to see some Asian poker chick in a hot-tub - some might say, I'd like to poker! In all seriousness though, I enjoyed seeing these very unique individuals talk about their poker life and how they came about to be professional poker players.

There are many modes on offer for the avid poker fan here. You've got career modes such as Seasons that include Satellite and Super Satellite rounds - and then you've got loads of quick games that allow you to go up against the pros too, from more known games such as Texas Hold'em and 5 Card Draw to less known but probably just as fun to the right man - games like Billabong and Crazy Pineapple. There's even a mode that allows you to make your own crazy modes, which works well to some degree (although all the best modes are already thought of, so don't expect to break any moulds) - and you can make your own character to sit at the table, but the character creation process is ruined by loading times and lack of facial textures. It's almost like the character creation intention is to make you look uglier than all the other professional poker players. "Oh, he looks ugly; he's no match for me!"

When you start to play though, that's when the problems start to arise. No clue for newcomers, so if you don't know how to play poker then you're screwed from the bat. However, having read up on the whole game, I started to play properly. There are a few flaws that I noticed though. Poker is mainly a game of luck. If your cards don't come up, if you're holding out for a pair, if you receive weak hand after weak hand, what happens? You aren't playing. And what happens when you aren't playing? You're watching. Watching other AI characters keep on raising each other until one of them wins with a weaker hand than you had in the first place anyway - well, it can get boring. The AI is a little daft at times, that's for sure. So if you don't like watching poker, you can cross this game off your list right away.

However, I'm sure all poker videogames are all like this, as the nature of the game makes it an unavoidable problem. World Poker Tour does have some good things in its favour. The career mode will have you advancing through the ranks, so it feels like you're progressing. The actual gameplay has nifty little options, such as being able to change your facial expression on the fly, from shocked to horrified, from happy to hoping, they're all here, even though I don't quite know how they really affect the gameplay. It's probably something to do with bluffing.

A poker videogame isn't the most inspiring idea in my book. These games are only floating round to sifter cash from the World Poker Tour itself, hoping that avid fans will pay the £20/$20 price tag to be a part of the Tour. I can't see the single player doing this alone; although the career mode does have its sense of achievements, you simply cannot beat playing proper poker for proper money with proper friends on a proper table, reading real expressions of people's real faces and having a real good time. Still, World Poker Tour's saving grace is the online mode. You can access all of the whacky poker modes to play with people online, so you're going against other people who know how to play and the changing expressions on the fly thing really works online too. For once, the PS2 has an advantage over Xbox - the online mode is enhanced by an EyeToy feature, so you can come face to face (or face to obscene body part) with your opponent if you so choose. While no single or online player games can top the real thing, the online mode comes pretty darn close and this really should be checked out if you're a fan of poker.

Graphically the game doesn't do anything outstanding at all. Character models look ugly, teeth always seem to make their way through lips, even sad faces show teeth - it's really bizarre. Menu systems aren't that inventive, but for a poker game the graphics here are acceptable, even though I would have liked to have seen some outstanding looking realistic players. It's strange that the loading times hinder this game with mediocre graphics like these - I know I shouldn't compare this game graphically to Oblivion on the 360 - but once you've seen that game and then you step into this, it feels like you've travelled back in time. The sound isn't all that good either; music fills the menus, commentary fills the matches, none of it is outstanding, all of it is mostly repetitive, and the actual characters playing at the table hardly say anything.

Despite the amount of complaints on the table, I still think World Poker Tour should be given a chance if you plan to take it online, because as far as I know, this is the only poker videogame that offers such an extensive online mode. And hey, if you like poker then you're bound to find some enjoyment in the single player modes - but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to state the obvious; this game is best served with real cards and real people. I fold.

Reviewed by Dexter Pearson for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).