NBC Sports National Heads Up Poker

Poker has gotten huge over the past few years, and Abandon Mobile is striking while the iron is hot with their release of NBC Sports National Heads Up Poker. Heads Up Poker offers players the chance to play Texas Hold ‘Em, either in single one-on-one matches, a tournament, or a Showdown where you go up against all five of the game’s poker players at once. Heads Up Poker is a bit on the light side in terms of what you can do, and the predictable AI has a couple of issues, but on the whole, this is a very fun and addictive game of poker that feels in place on the cell phone.

NBC Sports National Heads Up Poker doesn’t pit you up against pros from the actual tournament circuit, but rather plays you against the developers of the game themselves. You go up against six people involved with the creation of the game (I found this out by checking the credits, by the way). Each player has a pretty distinct style. For example, Jon Hilliard is pretty reckless with his chips, often going all-in and trying to bluff you in to folding your hand, a move that while ballsy, seldom works once you become privy to his tactics.

Unfortunately, this does lead in to some of the problems with the game’s AI. While changing it up between the different players and giving them their own personalities and tactics adds some character to the game, most of what the players do becomes entirely too predictable and not dynamic enough. After playing a couple rounds with the game’s six players, I was able to slaughter them just because I knew how to run them, even if I had a lousy hand. Bear in mind, I’m probably the crappiest poker player you’ll ever meet, but this game became predictable enough for me to wipe the floor with it only after playing it for a short while.

Graphically, the game isn’t much to look at, which is okay (it’s a poker game, not Doom 3). The game accomplishes aesthetically all it really has to, namely it does poker right. The opponents look fine, more or less static as the background, occasionally making movements like checking their cards and shifting and so on. Other than that, there’s really not much to say about the game’s graphical presentation.

The sound isn’t bad either, albeit pretty basic. The title screen has a fairly generic rock song playing (with some proficient slap-bass action going on). The only sounds in the game other than that are the cheers of the crowd when you make a good move against your opponent and win lots of money, or the random shuffling of cards.

NBC Sports National Heads Up Poker is a pretty simple poker game, but it serves its purpose and stays pretty fun throughout. If you’re a poker fan and looking for something new to play on the go, check this one out. 

Gameplay: 8.0
Basic Texas Hold ‘Em done a couple different ways, either you against one other person or against a table of opponents. The AI gets way too predictable.

Graphics: 7.0
Not much to talk about here: good looking sprites with limited animation and static backgrounds.

Sound: 7.5
The sound is also pretty barebones, consisting of a generic rock theme song, the shuffle of cards and the cheers of the crowd.

Difficulty:  Easy
The game’s AI becomes very easy to beat once you figure out the character’s nuances and play tactics (something that doesn’t take that long at all).

Concept: 7.5
A pretty straightforward approach to Texas Hold ‘Em, with very little frills.

Overall: 8.0
A fun and entertaining game of cards, albeit a simplistic one.