Some people enjoy gambling, some people get addicted to it (even though they’re really addicted to the adrenaline and endorphin rush that accompanies losing all their money) and some people actually enjoy the futility of playing videogame poker.

Without the money poker is pretty pointless and just turns into an exercise in luck. “Rarr! I got better cards than you this time! Woo!” “Yeah well done, you played that well, mad skillz innit.” And other things.

The PSP iteration of World Poker Tour has had some changes made to it after being ported from the PS2; most of these are derivative, such as more characters, more clothes to buy for your avatar and you can create your own version of poker by fiddling about in the Create A Game section.

The AI of the computer players is said to have been improved, so that’s good if you want to lie about what cards you don’t have and win the pot of nothing. But you can always just look at whatever attributes they have and make educated guesses as to whether they’re telling the truth or just bluffing when they go all in.

The best feature though is playing online against real people; you can even play against people playing the PS2 version. It’s just a shame that you can’t shout at them when you rape them of their chips.

Tim Empey