Zynga's Poker Blitz - The Best Poker Game You’ll Play Today

Gambling card games are easily one of the oldest forms of social games on Facebook, or on the internet in general. They’re easy to make, not very complex, and many people who would be interested in the first place already know the rules. It’s no wonder that Zynga’s TexasHold’Em Poker (now Zynga Poker) was one of the top social games for so long. However, Zynga Poker is a bit dated and not everyone likes to play synchronously against others (especially when they are learning how to play), and so, the social developer has released Poker Blitz, a Facebook game that adds a little bit of that Las Vegas flare to an old genre. We took a quick look when we spotted it live last night. Now, here's our full review. There are two key difference between Poker Blitz and the older title: The game doesn’t have all human players sitting around a table; and, it isn't quite the same game format as the many Hold’Em games circulating various social networks. Essentially, players get two cards and the House gets two cards. If you make a bet, you get five more, and if you like the hand you have, make a second (or fold if your cards are bad). After the second bet, the game announces who won, the player or the House, and its on to the next hand. Each round consists of 60 seconds to earn as many chips as possible; hence the name “Blitz.” However, it is all done so in this highly satirized collection of levels that represent Las Vegas, Jersey Beach, and even, well, Antarctica. Each level, however, is gated based on the user’s level, so the more you play, the more stages become available. Of course, unlocking new places to play is for more than just aesthetics, as each stage has its own set of rules. For example, in the earlier areas, players have a tutorial help element that displays the percent chance to win and what sort of hand they hold, while later ones do not. In addition to less hand holding, the later, unlocked stages, also tend to have higher stakes per hand, and a few even remove cards from the deck. As one can imagine, it gets very difficult to play at these later points, and thus harder to earn chips. Currently, however, the individual earning of chips doesn’t seem to mean much. You get to customize an avatar (and eventually a house, that is “coming soon”), but none of it costs anything yet. Nonetheless, your earnings do count towards your Team’s total value. In addition to leaderboards made up of Facebook friends that play, there's a weekly challenge. By adding people to your team, the game tallies how many chips everyone has cummulatively. Unfortunately, it’s not 100% clear what the challenge is -- the game has been out less than a week -- but the current challenge appears to be reaching a tally of 1 million chips, between all your teammates. Certainly, this is a daunting challenge, as you can only bet up to 500 chips at a time at the ealier levels (higher level stages allow for bigger bets, though we haven't unlocked them yet). Of course, there wouldn’t be much incentive if it was just a random number. Teams that reach the 1 million mark will become eligible to win an iPod Touch, but they only have five more days to do so after winning. Of course, this number becomes increasingly difficult to attain as players can only play so many rounds until they are out of “tokens” - which basically acts like energy in Mafia Wars - and have to wait an hour or so for them to recharge. That’s okay though, because the game actually does have some good ways to make the most out of the rounds you have available. Poker Blitz actually incorporates two unorthodox elements to poker games. These are the “Mystery Box” and the concept of power-ups. The former is basically something that you win during play that could contain thousands of chips, or a random power-up. Now don’t think that one is better than the other, because the latter can completely change the tide of a hand, granting players the ability to make their hand “luckier,” swap cards with the house, double the pot, or even view one card in the House’s hand. Honestly, though, the last power-up doesn’t seem all that useful, because it gives you no real gist of what they hold. That said, there are a number of things one can’t do in games like this. Poker is a strategy game of knowing when to fold, when to bluff, and when and how much to bet. Obviously, you can’t do all of this (especially forms of bluffing) on a game like this where you're facing computer opponents. To that end, Zynga Poker still seems like the better choice of apps. Nonetheless, Poker Blitz is still fun, for what it is, and is something a non-poker player would probably love. To that end, there is nothing wrong with gameplay, but there is a bit of a complaint in starting the game up. In fact, this is a complaint for most new social games lately: First of all, Poker Blitz requires you to let them email you with offers and updates in order to play. [Update: Apps can require email sign-ups, but Facebook won't provide emails except through the API. In this case, Zynga directs users through the Facebook API once they click on its interface.] Normally if a player wants updates or offers, they will go to the game and click the offers button. Frankly, this is just a recipe for unwanted spam. That isn’t to say Zynga will do this, but if all Facebook games start making this requirement…. Well, you get the picture. The other issue, is it feels like a lot of social games are taking advantage of the fact that most Facebook users are not “gamers.” At the top of the last half a dozen games reviewed, there is a nifty little “setup progress” bar. This bar, has nothing to do with being able to play a game, but only consists of steps such as allowing emails, becoming a fan, bookmarking, allowing automatic feed posts (sometimes), and giving a 5-Star review. The reason for doing this is understandable, but always asking players for a 5-Star review defeats the purpose of “reviews,” doesn’t it? That aside, Poker Blitz is still a wonderful little card game app that most non-poker players will probably enjoy. Considering the level of cross-promotion Zynga games get and the millions of players on its other titles, this is a game that will probably grow very quickly. Whether or not it will get up there with other titles from the developer is yet to be determined, but expect to see Poker Blitz's AppData page rise in some of our Top 20 charts in the near future.

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Zynga's Poker Blitz - The Best Poker Game You’ll Play Today

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack