Poker Superstars III Review

Poker Superstars III Review

Review by Mick

For in-depth Texas Hold 'em action there are not many games better than Poker Superstars III. You will be able to face off against some of pokers biggest superstars in tournament style play or single games. You can try beating all the challenges or earning all the awards for certain hands or eliminating players. With four modes of play and a variety of players to compete against you will get all the Texas Hold 'em action you can handle.

Several Ways to Play Hold Em

In Poker Superstars III you have a profile that will keep track of all your stats like best hand, biggest pot, hands won and that sort of thing. There are four ways to play in this game: Season Play, Limit Play, Challenges and Single Round. Season play has you play several qualifying rounds against five other opponents. The better you do in these rounds the more chips you will start with in the semifinals. Having a bigger chip pile is an advantage.

Limit Play

Limit play puts very specific limits on how much you can bet and raise. This forces players to raise back and forth for some time to increase the pot very much. An example would be having a maximum raise of $1,000, which means that at most you can raise the current bid by $1,000. These games typically take longer than usual games.

Unique Challenges

The challenges give you specific scenarios to play, such as Nicknames, which gives you 12 hands that all have nicknames, and you must earn at least $300,000 playing these twelve hands to complete the challenge. Single Round lets you play a single game of Texas Hold 'em with the usual rules. In all these modes you can set the difficulty to either amateur or professional. With only two difficulty settings there is not much variability in how challenging the game is.

Play Against the Pros

Being able to play against the poker superstars like Todd Brunson and Jennifer Tilly makes this a unique game. The computer will play based on the represented individual's style of play. An example would be an aggressive player that raises constantly or a bluffer who is good at making you think they have a hand they don't. If you are a poker fanatic this is a great way to improve your skills.

Standard Graphics and Sound

The graphics are fairly standard for a poker style game. The games are played on a table and a picture representing the other players is placed next to their cards. There is no animation other than cards dealing. If you are looking for a game that has a lot of animation for your opponents, this game might not be for you. If you just like to play poker then this game brings you straight poker action without all the frills. Sound is also fairly limited: a dealer will announce, when you bet chips will make noise and the cards make noise when they are dealt. The sound and graphics don't do anything to add to the game, but they do a great job of making a pure poker game.

Just Hold Em

There is only one factor that limits this game: only offering Texas Hold 'em can become boring. The game has several ways to play, but you can still only play the one game. The addition of some extra forms of poker really would have made this a great game.

Conclusion - An Awesome Texas Hold Em Game That Lives Up to Its Namesake

If playing against some of the legends of poker is a dream of yours then it doesn't get much closer than this without sitting at a table with them. Several different modes of Texas Hold 'em give the game some variety that it lacks in different poker games. The simplistic style does a good job of bringing you a poker game without all the frills of other games. With variable difficulty poker players of any age and skill level can play this great game.

If you are a Texas Hold 'em fanatic or just want to learn the game Poker Superstars III is a great choice.