High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition review

by Denis Ivanov - October 30th, 2011

Cards and roulettes usually take a backseat to shotguns and rocket launchers on the PlayStation 3, so there are not a lot of casino games like poker and blackjack available. Still, if you're one of the few who wants a decent poker game on the PlayStation 3, High Stakes on the Vegas Strip is one of the few options available on PSN.

The graphics aren't amazing, but for a $10 game, they're not awful either. 3D presentation and minor character customization certainly make the game look a little more respectable. That's more than can be said for audio, which is practically non-existant save for the dealer calling out the winning hand and the sound of chips cracking.

There are 5 variations of poker to choose from - Texas Hold 'Em, Billabong, Shanghai, Tahoe and super hold-em. Pretty generous for a $10 PSN download. The controls are pretty decent, allowing you to map betting, calling, pushing and folding to the face buttons and you can also fast forward through the CPU action with the R2 button. The AI seems specially designed for Texas Hold 'Em, but is pretty competent at all the modes - making solid calls and even bluffing when they sense a bad hand.

The single player only has a couple of modes and only for Texas Hold 'Em, which is a bit of a letdown. Things gets a lot more interesting online, with voice chat support. Upto 6 players can participate in any of the 5 games. Unfortunately, camera support is nowhere to be seen and neither are multi-table games.

As a PS3 casino game, High Stakes on the Vegas Strip: Poker Edition is certainly worth the $10 for the download. The question is why would you want to pay for a casino game on the PS3 when there are tons of sites on the internet where you can play any casino games from video poker to slot machines for free ?