User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Negative: 4 out of 18

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  1. JeroenJ.
    Mar 7, 2007
    1
    I've been playing this game for a long time now, but this is were it ends. On the one hand, it is great to talk to people from all over the world, to play with free money and just to enjoy the pokergame. As for the game itself, the design is really not that great. There are three different playing options; the single player mode, play against 'not so hard to beat computer I've been playing this game for a long time now, but this is were it ends. On the one hand, it is great to talk to people from all over the world, to play with free money and just to enjoy the pokergame. As for the game itself, the design is really not that great. There are three different playing options; the single player mode, play against 'not so hard to beat computer opponents, and two online modes on xbox360 live arcade: the player match where everybody can throw in playing money at will and your bank account can go below zero. The second online mode is the competitive match, 8player tournaments with buy in's that are limited to the bank account. This is the mode I prefer to play, because it is usually with good and serious players, except of course on the 500$ starter's table where people go 'all in' often before the flop, because there is nothing to lose; the bank account is not affected. Anyhow, to get to the point of my review, the biggest problem with this game is that it has a lot of 'bugs'. At the beginning of 2007 Microsoft updated the game, resetting all the players back to zero. Besides, the only thing that changed was a 'away mode', and the fact of getting kicked off the table after 3 'automatic folds'. As for the 'bugs', nothing changed: The game lags out every once in a while, meaning that the screen freezes up, and there is nothing els to do then to manually turn off the xbox and restart it again. Another 'bugger' is that regularly everybody disappears all of a sudden and you are told that you ended up 8th place, even when you were left with only 3 players and being chip-leader... One more: Someone wins an all-in bet and the other player leaves the table right after he saw that he lost, the winner ends up with no money (sometimes the player next to the winner gets it) and leaves the table as well. As for a part some of these problems might be due to the connection and server-host-controllers of the game, the freezing up of the screen, or lagging out, is a error in the game itself and really annoying when it happens on a table with high buy-in. It happened to me one time to many and ofcourse you might say that it is only free money and just a game... still i find it frustrating that this game is so badly tested and has all these errors. In the 'credits' of the game a lot of russian or polish sounding names appear... I wonder why Microsoft chooses undeveloped crap to like this to present to people that spend a lot of money on games and console. Even though the game is apparently for free, my advice is: don't waste your time with it. If you like poker, there must be better designed games out there. Expand
  2. MatC.
    Aug 24, 2006
    3
    I'm going to rate this as if I paid $10, since anyone from tomorrow on will... The game itself plays correctly. The cards are relatively readable, and the betting controls are decent enough. Also, the money in your account is attached to your Live login; very good! But there is one major problem with this game. It's SLOW! Very slow. You cannot preprogram folds. You cannot I'm going to rate this as if I paid $10, since anyone from tomorrow on will... The game itself plays correctly. The cards are relatively readable, and the betting controls are decent enough. Also, the money in your account is attached to your Live login; very good! But there is one major problem with this game. It's SLOW! Very slow. You cannot preprogram folds. You cannot advance hands until all players press to continue. No auto-fold. Slow deals. The table view moves before and after every deal. Why? Why take all of this time? All I want is to play poker - not watch cruddy animations or wait for the guy who folded and isn't paying attention. Overall, I can only hope that you didn't pay for it. It moves just barely faster than a home game, doesn't connect often enough, only has 8 players at a table, not 10... Be prepared to be extra-patient when playing. Expand
  3. Jun 19, 2016
    0
    I was thinking about this game so I got the trial and during one hand I got a 4 card straight.
    Wait that may sound ok at first but here's the problem, there is no such thing as a 4 card straight.
    Guess that says about all that needs to be said about the game.
Metascore
63

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 20
  2. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. Texas Hold 'em does the barest of bare minimums to make a playable game of Xbox Live Arcade poker.
  2. It's just puzzling that, with so many internet poker rooms to use for inspiration, many of Texas Hold 'em's elements - play speed, AI, graphics - feel cobbled together and bargain bin.
  3. 65
    If it remained free, I'd recommend it, but at almost ten dollars, it's a losing bet — single or multiplayer.