This active Kindle game (which should work on the Kindle 2, Kindle 3, or Kindle DX) mimics the "Jacks or Better" single-player video poker games you might see at bars or in Vegas casinos. You start with 100 credits and choose an amount to bet, and are dealt 5 cards. You are able to hold whichever cards you'd like (from none up to keeping all 5), and then get new cards to replace the ones you discarded. The goal is to get the best poker hand you can. There is a list of payouts, ranging from a pair of Jacks or better that pays back your original bet, two pair pays 2-to-1, a full house pays 9-to-1, and so on up to 800-to-1 for a royal flush.
Gameplay is fairly simple, although a bit slow given the limits of the Kindle's e-Ink screen. It takes a few moments to update your chip count once each hand is over, but the delay is hardly unbearable. (It should go without saying that the graphics are in black & white, but they are done pretty well and everything is clear on my K3.) Your cards are spread across the bottom of the screen, and you press the Q or W buttons to hold card 1, E or R to hold card 2, and so on using the top row of the keyboard (the corresponding buttons are always shown on the screen just below your cards). Then you press the enter key or the 5-way controller, and you receive your new cards and your payout (if any) is calculated and added to your total. The game didn't suffer any lag or crashes in the limited time I've played with it so far.
The game also offers hints, which you can optionally turn on or off. Even better, you can have it suggest the optimal play (which cards to hold and which to discard) only when you make a sub-optimal choice. It provides a list on the right side of the screen showing which hands are better than others -- keeping a low pair is better than keeping 4 to an open-ended straight, for example. It's very helpful for learning the optimal strategies.
It also tracks statistics, including your highest chip count, number / percentage of hands won, number / percentage of each poker hand you've gotten (pair, two pair, three of a kind, etc.), and both the percentage and longest streak of making the optimal play. You can save your game and resume later.
All in all, it's a fun little diversion, a little something extra for your Kindle in between books. Certainly worth having on my Kindle, especially since it was free when I downloaded it. Video Poker
Overall, the game does what it is supposed to do: replicates one of the video poker bandits with the standard Jacks or better to win, etc. If that kind of game is your cup of tea, you'll probably like it especially considering the free price vs. paying something for it.
The main drawback is the game is pretty slow - you select the cards you want to keep and press the button, and nothing happens. You press it again, then you get your draw cards - all with a noticable delay that is kind of annoying. However, it didn't seem to bother my third grader who played many hands before finally putting the Kindle down.
When I got this game I also though it was slow and a bit boring. But the more I play it, the more I like it. I can get into it, play a few hands and get out -in between reading, of course-.
It actually grabs my attention and is so simple to play.
Oh, and for free, it is well worth the money!
I like the format of the game, especially the Strategy list and the way it informs you of incorrect plays. However, there are 2 issues I would like to see improved:
1. There is a bug with payoffs. The game pays off the correct amount after a win, but does not return your bet. Yet when starting the next hand, it still deducts the bet amount from your credits.
2. The game is a bit slow. It would help to remove the flashing of the win and credit fields after a win. The way the Kindle changes a field would be enough to "highligt" the changing of the fields.
This is a free for kindle owners. It is a fun game for people who know how to play poker. Those who do not know the game, can use it to learn because the game is introduced by pages of instruction. There are two ways that the game can be played: with and without advice. If one selects advice, the kindle will suggest how the hand should be played. It will also tell you if you made a mistake. You can also select whether you want to play easy hands or hard ones.
Video Poker for the Kindle is a version of the machine that one would play in casinos. The game is very slow moving and doesn't offer the quick exciting play of other Kindle games. The fact that it is free save this from being one star.
Video Poker for the Kindle is just that, a game for a reader. For those who use their Kindle as a gaming device, I'm not sure this is the best available, but for the reading user who wants a little diversion now and then, this is an excellent game. Since it contains a single style poker game, Jacks or Better, those of us who have a short attention span might find it frustrating to be unable to change poker games. I personally play for a few minutes now and then as a break from reading or when I am doing something else like taking a phone call or listening to the news. It's unlikely that the game will grab B&M casino players like the machines which inspired this game, but for the Kindle you can't go wrong for the price.
To play this game, you can bet a maximum of 5 per play, and select to receive the program's recommendations or not. If you read the recommendations, you can then select to accept those recommendations and press either A or S to move forward more quickly. Alternatively, you can make your card selections by pressing a button under each card to select that card for holding. No need to be concerned with running out of funds because any time you reach a zero balance, another $100 are applied to your fund. I've earned over a thousand dollars in this game and have gone bust several times. Best part of this is no ATM fees when you need more funding.
The longer the game is played, the slower it runs. As expected, the Kindle battery is run down more quickly, but that's easy to fix with a charge. I like Video Poker for the Kindle for short spurts and recommend it for a little escape. - Kindle Games - Games - Kindle Active Content - Video Poker'
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