While it’s certainly true that the thrill of playing poker in a casino around a table with actual people can’t be beaten, poker in online casino has risen in popularity over the years with millions of players flooding lobbies to test their wits and strategies on Texas Hold’em, the most prominent form of the age-old card game.
With that in mind, it’s great to see Pure Hold’em arrive on PlayStation 4 as it opens up the addictive poker game to the PlayStation masses with a great deal of style and social interactivity that brings with it some of tension-fuelled, strategy-driven gameplay onto the big screen.
Starting at the Jokers table on the floor of the vibrant casino work your way up to the esteemed Aces and Masters tables in the VIP penthouse. BrBuy your way into a game with earned credits, play your blinds. Feb 24, 2015 The first Texas Hold’em poker game to come to PlayStation 4. We’re proud of the high level of expectation on every new VooFoo release and we’re not holding back on stunning visuals, silky-smooth gameplay or the purity of the experience. Pure Hold’em will have full online multiplayer support. 4 PS4 Poker Games to Play. Try your hand at any of these fun games for PS4 and see how you stack up. These are the top four that are worth your time and money. Pure Hold’em World Poker Championship. For a casino experience without leaving your home, Pure Hold’em World Poker Championship is your best option. 4 PS4 Poker Games to Play. Try your hand at any of these fun games for PS4 and see how you stack up. These are the top four that are worth your time and money. Pure Hold’em World Poker Championship. For a casino experience without leaving your home, Pure Hold’em World Poker Championship is your best option.
Though a console poker game should always be about the cards that are dealt and the playing of hands rather than the pretty graphics or stunning backdrops, Pure Hold’em does a superb job at creating the overall look of a poker tournament. Such is the realistic approach that the team from Voofoo Studios has adopted, you can almost smell the felt from the tables, touch the chips, hear the shuffling of the cards, and walk off into its glitzy background of flashing slot machines. This unprecedented approach to realism in this particular subgenre also shines through in customisation with players able to choose from a variety of tables, chip and card designs to deliver a personal touch to each tournament.
In poker games in the past, we’ve often seen awful characters modelled on stereotypical poker players sitting around the table, but we’re personally glad to see that Pure Hold’em ditches them entirely in favour of iPad-style tablets. These tablets are dotted around the table in each player’s position and act as information boards in each game, allowing players to freely move the camera around the table, zoom in and check on statistics, such as who raised and how many chips an opponent has left. Though you could argue that this shatters the illusion of realism, it does mean that you focus on the actual game rather than spending time shaking your head at how unrealistic the characters would have been with an indie studio’s relatively low budget.
And, for the most part, VooFoo has handled the poker side of things really well by offering players a plethora of tournaments to enter in both online and offline modes. Each tournament or open game requires a buy-in, and these are tiered as you move from the likes of the Queen’s Cup with a 1K entrance fee through to the Master Table with a 1 million stake. The idea is to win tournaments, or gain credits by earning XP, rise up the online leaderboards and earn enough virtual cash to play with the big boys. There’s also the option to set up private games between seven friends. Though you can’t win real money playing Pure Hold’em, we felt that the private rooms offer the perfect opportunity to set up private cash games (ssssh!), if you’re that way inclined, and your friends agree! There’s also a variety of informative tutorials for those who have never played Texas Hold’em before, or those who want to brush up on some of the strategies required to be a decent player.
Though the XP system in Pure Hold’em is never explained, and appears to simply run in the background with no logical explanation, it actually works rather well and means that winning tournaments isn’t the only way to earn credits. In each tournament, you earn XP based on a set of variables, such as winning a hand, playing a successful bluff, or the quality of your winning hand. What this means is that you don’t have to be the best player and win every time in order to earn the credits to compete in the bigger tournaments; although players who do win obviously get more XP, more credits and rise up the leaderboards quicker. What we’re personally not keen on is the introduction of micro-transactions which allows players to buy credit with real money, therefore allowing them to enter the bigger tournaments without having earned their way there. Still, some may see that as a bonus.
The online tournaments work really well. Voice chat is a nice addition, giving you plenty of chance to banter with other players, while the pacing of tournaments is handled well with the small and big blinds increasing at the appropriate times to ensure games don’t drag on too long. The interface is excellent too, with players able to take a peek at their cards with the intuitive movement of a touchpad swipe, and move around the table in free camera mode to follow the action or focus on the flop. The camera automatically moves from player to player when it’s their turn, but it’s also nice to be able to break out of that and gain some control of what you want to see. You can also zoom in on each player’s tablet to see their latest stats, and at the end of the round it’s helpful to see the shift in player’s chip stacks in real-time with the presentation of the current leaderboard.
Texas Hold'em Rules
The interface is slick and intuitive with players able to Check, Call and Fold at the press of a button. It’s a nice touch that you can also make a pre-emptive action before it’s your turn, which gave us a great opportunity to nip to the toilet in between hands – essentially it’s a feature that helps to speed up the game. Raising the pot is handled via the right analog stick and a slider, which also feels intuitive to use, and it’s impressive the way the A.I. slickly deals the cards around the table to the eight players, and creates some tension with the dramatic slow motion turn of the river card. The only bizarre addition to the game is the ability to pay for a gift and send it to another player. So, you can buy the likes of a Lucky Clover or a pair of sunglasses and just give it to someone, which doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the game other than maybe to strike up a friendship or conversation.
Technically, VooFoo has got it spot on in terms of the smooth running of each hand, with the only niggle being that you can’t view your cards once you’ve folded them. With so many cards being dealt, we quickly forgot what we’d folded but would have liked to be able to check what those cards were so we could see how they would have performed once the five community cards had been turned over, rather than just sit there waiting for a hand to be played out before joining in again.
Texas Hold'em Pogo
Should you go ‘all-in’ with Pure Hold’em?
Ps4 Texas Hold'em
Presentation-wise, Pure Hold’em is the best looking poker game to have ever graced consoles, and shows that the Birmingham-based developer has obviously spent time in casinos and playing in real-world poker tournaments. With the only bone of contention being the optional micro-transactions, an unneeded gifting feature, and the inability to see your folded cards again, there’s little to fault about the exciting range of poker tournaments on offer and the slick interface that allows you to sit back and enjoy a game of Texas Hold’em in pure style.