Hoyle Poker

Although Sierra tried its hand (no pun intended) at other card games, this is their first foray into the world of poker. The game offers all the excitement of a real poker game mixed with Sierra's unique brand of humour.

The game offers a total of 20 variations on popular poker games including: Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, High Chicago, Cincinnati, Baseball, 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, Jacks or Better, Criss Cross, Dealers Choice, 5 Card Draw and 5 Card Draw Lo-ball.

In single-player offline mode, you can select up to 7 opponents to play against, each with their own personality, playing style and skill level. The animated AI characters are well done and if you study them carefully, you can figure out each player's tell, which gives away the fact that they have a good hand. The Attitude Meter adjusts the speed of the game; setting it higher results in more animation and comments from the AI players, whereas setting it lower, keeps them quiet and offers a faster pace game. You start with a bankroll of $1,000 in case with another $9,000 in your bank account which you can access via an ATM (it also has a personality of it's own).

Once you've mastered the game (or become tired of the AI players), check out the on-line play mode and see how your skills match up with real players from around the world.