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World Championship Poker 2 allows you to hone your skills for that all important home game against your buddies. Learn about the strength of the hands and how to read players by the way they play their hands.

Now obviously you aren’t going to become an expert at reading other players with this game, since no computer game has been able to match the unpredictability and randomness of humans, but it does help you to learn to read the player’s patterns. Each player has their own distinct playing style and characteristics. The more you play against each player the better you get at learning their playing style to help ensure you know when to fold and when to hold .

Although just like real life I find myself staying in hands I shouldn’t and folding hands I shouldn’t. Mostly because I am trying to start using pot odds and hand strength to make the right decision. Unfortunately my gut instincts seem to be better at predicting the hands then the odds. Many times I had a mediocre hand that I decided to fold based on the strength but wanted to stay in the hand. Low and behold the flop would have given me a full boat. Oh well I saved my money for another day.

The overall graphics of the game are good. The characters have their own unique look and the real life people are close to how they really look. You get to play against such poker stars as Greg Raymer (The Fossilman) and Howard Lederer. You get to play the pros at various stages of the game in a heads up match. When I met up with Howard I was able to beat him in 2 hands thanks to Cowboys and Ladies against Cowboys and Sevens. I also lost a couple of tourneys the way Howard lost to me. Not too often the 1% to 2% chance of winning actually happens. Unfortunately when it happens it is usually not in my favor. The games can be pretty dark making it hard to always see the player’s actions to watching for body language. You can definitely learn the player’s betting tendencies, which is what I used most of the time.

The sound is fine but the sayings can get a bit tedious. Based on the player’s personality, they make comments that fit that personality. Unfortunately the comments become very repetitive, especially in the limit tournaments where it is not as easy to wipe the players out. Good thing it is easy to turn the sound off if you do get tired of it.

The game-play is very good. You get to play a wide variety of competitors from pros to amateurs. Don’t worry about going up against the likes of The Fossilman and Howard. Even they get beat and try to bluff once in a while. You get to play a wide variety of hold’em games from Texas to Pineapple. Pineapple and Texas are my favorite versions but Razz is right up there. The best part about Razz is it really helps you to read a hand and figure out what everyone else might have based on the shared cards. Surprising this is true but looking for the worst hand really helps looking for the best hand in other games.
Overall I would recommend World Championship Poker 2 as a solid entry in the incredibly popular and rapidly growing Texas Hold’em following. The game offers a very solid basis for learning the rules of the game and how to read both hands and players. You can only learn to be a better player by playing thousands of hands and this is one way to play and learn without losing your shirt and weekly allowance. Now don’t get me wrong, you won’t become a pro with this game, but it is a good training tool right at your fingertips.