Muck It!
Summary: Bafflingly bad interface and poor computer-player AI make this collection of poker games an unplayable mess.

Showing unmistakable signs of having been programmed by someone who has never played poker before, "World Championship Poker: Deluxe Series" suffers from so many flaws it's hard to know where to begin. It's hard to believe that anyone who knows poker was involved with this game at any stage -- certainly not with the game play, programming, or play-testing of the game.

Really, the game is a total mess. Play is slow. The character animations are repetitive and annoying (for example, virtually every hand played seems to end with the computer character pronouncing "Read 'em and weep!", even hands where, due to player folds, no cards are shown down. Weep indeed..) And critical information needed for understanding opponents' betting patterns is inexplicably absent (e.g.: fold a hand in hold'em or Omaha and the board cards are not displayed, only the resultant five-card hand formed by each remaining player. This latter behavior alone would be sufficient cause to reject the game but sadly it's just the tip of the iceberg.) Throw in a host of other bad interface decisions (e.g.: after every single hand the DS asks you whether you want to leave the game) and you will start to wonder whether the designers weren't just unfamiliar with the game of poker but were unfamiliar with the rudiments of game play in general. Seriously. It's THAT bad.

The computer's play is so awful I consider this game a potential hazard to beginning players trying to learn how to properly play the included poker variants. Habits which this game would reward would quickly bankrupt a player in a real-life card game.

I strongly recommend against purchasing this game. Not suitable even from the bargain bin. Choose another title instead.

Not for Texas hold em player
If you want to play/practice not limit Texas hold em, this is not the game for you. This has other card games, and limit texas hold em, but you get bored in 10 minutes with its limited options.

If you love texas hold em' you just may hate this game
I recently ordered this game to work on hold em when I dont have a chance to play with. This game is slow paced and frustrating. I wish that they used more buttons to help with options like all in and folding. It does have a wide variety of card games. But, overall I did not enjoy this game and it will collect dust on my shelf.

Many varieties, but terrible AI and UI
The good thing about this game is that the number of different forms of poker, it's not just Texas Hold'em. However the tournaments which you need to pass to get further in the game are Texas Hold'em only.

The rest is pretty bad.
The AI seems totally insane, and even when your "stats" are very high the other players seem to know exactly what you have more often than not. If there's one good thing about it, it's that it'll teach you to fold ... a lot.
The UI seems designed by someone who has never played, you can't see the action after you leave a hand, you don't even get to see the other players cards (you just see their best hand) which can be very annoying. It also asks you if you want to "leave" the tournament every hand (you just lose your money for nothing, if you accidentally hit yes) and there are a few quirks like going all in and then being asked if you want to fold the next round of betting (you just lose then).
I'm also sure the game screwed up what the hands were, on a couple of occasions.

Also the tournament structure is like nothing I've ever seen (it's basically 2+ tables where you have to win all of the tables).
The "cash game" is easy to game, allowing you to tripple up almost every decent hand you get.


Might be worth it if you have friends, and don't want to use a real pack of cards.

Not for serious players
I recently purchased this game in the hopes of honing my skillset in reading hands and betting strategy. As a veteran of poker for almost 20 years, I'm always looking for new ways to practice. This game isn't up to par.

The AI is terrible. I have seen the computer go all-in on a 7 & 2 unsuited...and won. Likewise, any time that I have a descent hand, the computer folds like crazy. I'm almost afraid to get pocket aces as I am assured that no one will bet. The ability to purchase skillsets is interesting, but I don't see any advantage to it. All in all, the AI is not up to snuff, and leads me to bet understanding the betting patterns of the computer rather than on what an actual real life player would do.

The UI for the game is annoying to say the least. You automatically have to turn off animations as the game comes to a crawl. Likewise, every time a bet is made, the game rotates to view the player making the bet which takes forever. Walking the streets to me is time consuming and uninteresting.

The only thing good about this game is that it does expose the average player to many different poker varieties. Omaha, Stud, Hold-em. If you want to learn poker games, this could be a good place to start (or just buy a poker book and you may be better off).