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Often dull,due to very tight Cpu players.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: June 08, 2006
Author: Amazon User

INTRO:
This is an OFFLINE review only(last edited on Aug.14,2006),and for comparisons with the World Poker Tour(WPT) PS2 videogame and mini-reviews of World Series of Poker(WSOP),World Championship Poker 2(WCP2) and yes,even Stacked again,just go to my World Poker Tour PS2 videogame review(on this website) and read the *UPDATE at the bottom of THAT review.

After playing this 9 handed No-Limit or Limit Texas Hold'em only game for countless hours since I first bought it (06/06/06),I have unlocked all the 3 casino's and 3 of the pros(Josh,Evelyn Ng,and Daniel)and still have fun,even though the Cpu bots(even the 7 Cpu pro bots) play too tight for my liking and thus I don't play it as often anymore.It's just too easy to steal the blinds,and thus not very realistic! At least in WPT or WSOP at least one player usually calls,so they're less boring to play (though both still have flaws too).

Also,I decided to cram as much information into this long review, so that those who don't want to try Stacked,but still are curious,can at least learn more about it here than anywhere else.I will also repeat some of the information where I think it's important since I don't expect anyone but die-hard poker fans(like myself) to read this whole review anyway.But,if you prefer to only read the SUMMARY at the end of this review,that will tell you enough.

CONTROL: 6/10
The manual's controller configuration is poorly written,so before you play I must first tell you how to bet with ease or you will be too frustrated and won't be able to enjoy the game as much(Note:I use the default setting).

To make mid-range bets,DON'T bother using the annoying Directional pad because mostly it just moves either too fast or too slow! Instead,USE the Left Joystick.This will give you the ability to make simple precise bets from $1,up to even a huge amount like $100,000 with relative ease(also,the more you press upwards or downwards,the faster the bets will move).You can also use the L2 and R2 buttons for quick jumps in betting amounts.

Once you see the dealer begin to deal(or just before),press the X button to speed the dealing up. After the deal ends, you can only speed up the game when you FOLD, by pressing X.

If you desire,you can also choose to have the Auto Speed-up mode ALWAYS ON(only when possible)instead of having to always press the X button each time you want to speed up the deal and the Cpu bots play,AFTER you fold.

For all of the game settings options,you can set them either before you start your game or even once you're already playing a game.If you're playing a game just press Start to pause the game,which will then bring up a menu with several options.From this menu you can set the option to show or not show your MUCKED cards(for your called losing hand only).The game only asks you if you want to show your cards or not,if you set 'Always muck losing hands' to OFF).

You can also choose to ALWAYS show your Hole cards from this in-game start menu or from the settings menu before you start the game.

You can even choose your action(to call,bet,raise,etc.,specific amounts) BEFORE it's your turn to act(press X to select it or just change bet to cancel it-as usual),just like in internet poker.If someone else raises,then your advanced action will automatically be cancelled.

The square and circle buttons act just like the X button except that they can't speed the game up(the manual says they perform aggressive or tentative action,but they don't).

Also,though Daniel's tips many times are incorrect and he often wants you to bet big with your bad hand-as a BLUFF(even though he doesn't say that-only the X-Box version has a patch that says when it's a bluff),if you're still curious and want to access them with three fewer button presses overall,just press right on the direction pad(only when it's your turn to act)to access the awkward sliding menu and then press right on the d-pad once more.Then press X to hear him and then press X to remove his dialogue box from the screen.Now here's the minor trick: instead of pressing Left twice on the directional pad to close the sliding menu,just wait 5 seconds and it will close itself.

Now,the next time you want to hear Daniel's advice you just have to press Right,on the directional pad, ONCE(instead of twice)because you let the sliding menu previously close itself,so Daniel's advice choice is already lined up,once the menu slides out.You still have to press the X button to hear him and again to close the dialogue box, but I hate that sliding menu so much,the faster I can be done with it the better.Now you're ready to have fun.

GAMEPLAY: 7/10
The Cpu bot A.I.(Artificial Intelligence) adapts its play by learning from both you and the other Cpu bots during each game.However,they will forget everything they learned once the current cash game or tournament ends.So, initially they might go all-in with any hand,but after about 45 minutes of watching me go all-in with mostly only pocket pairs,suited high cards or any ace,they then did the same.The bots only went all-in with bad cards if they were low in chips,falling behind in the tournament and wanted to catch up, or if they were bluffing.That makes beating these bots tougher than all the other PS2 poker games whose A.I. goes all-in with garbage at any time!

The A.I. used for the No-limit hold'em in Stacked is called Zen,and is much newer.The A.I. used for the Limit Hold 'Em is called Poki and it's been around longer and thus these bots play better Limit poker than No-limit in my opinion.However,they still hang around after the flop with nothing but a high card a bit too often,in both Limit and No-limit(so not always that realistic).

Here,only in Limit hold'em, does the minimum bet double on the turn or river,which is different from almost all of the poker that's shown on television(and the WPT videogame), which does it for both Limit AND No-limit hold'em.

Also,it's great that these Cpu bots will sometimes get sneaky,by checking their great hand on the river(when they are first to act),since they believe you have a weak hand(because you just checked or called after the flop),and want to sucker you into making a bet yourself,so that they can then check-raise you.Other times they may make a small bet in that same situation,hoping that you will at least call,or maybe even raise them,so that they can re-raise you.

Sometimes,the bots do make bad decisions,however, like folding on the river when I make a $400 minimum bet into a $3400 pot,even when I show weakness the entire hand,and the Cpu bot has more than a $7000 stack.That's really bad poker playing!Luckily,it doesn't happen that often,though even the games seven pros make some questionable folds(yes,even the Daniel Negreanu bot)!

You can also usually get the Cpu bots to fold bottom pair on the river if you bet more than half their stack.Sometimes,you can get them to fold that same hand(I used saving and re-loading back to that same hand to confirm this)with a smaller bet.Though,they might change what they do each time,even if you bet the same exact amount in the exact same situation(just like the WPT A.I. also does),so you can't always push them around.

Stacked can get very dull at times,because especially when the blinds are low, the bots will usually fold to any raise(in No-limit Hold'em only).Sure,one or two bots might call or raise you every 3rd hand,but then you know they probably have good hands.Often,if I re-raise them they'll also fold(very satisfying).

Thus,you can steal the blinds very easily in Stacked.Though, it's usually harder to steal at the final table or when the blinds are very big.However,it's often better to limp in(just call) with a good hand(especially pocket Aces!) and try to slow play or trap the bots later.Otherwise, the normal one to seven hours it takes me to beat a 9 player, or up to a 90 player(maximum) tournament(with or without cheating) in career mode,would take even longer since the bots would usually fold to any raise,and then I might not get to see the flop,with my already good hand.

Also,due to the tight and also clever All-In Cpu play,it takes longer to win even a 45 player Stacked tournament than a 2000+ WSOP tournament;due to WSOP's dumb all-in A.I.(calls too often with garbage).

In tournaments,the always SMALL starting blinds(even with $250,000 starting chipstacks the blinds start at only $500/$1000,and rise every 15 minutes), rise in REAL time from 2 minutes to every 20 minutes,depending on the tournament,so whether you start with $500 or $250,000 chip stacks,you can play a slower paced game or one that moves quicker with the bots going all-in more frequently,due to the fast rising blinds.You can see what the current blinds are and when and what they will change to,by watching them scroll by in the top right hand corner.(You CAN'T,however,change the blinds to any amount you want,unfortunately).

To see your tournament position and how you compare(chipstacks) to the remaining players in the tournament you can just press start at any time during the game, and scroll through the menu that appears.

Important Note:You CAN save in the middle of a CAREER tournament.Don't worry when it says you'll lose your progress if you leave the table because the very next screens will LET you SAVE).However,to SAVE a FINISHED Career tournament(there's no auto-save function) or a Career CASH game result after you leave the table;choose 'yes' when it tells you that you will lose your progress and then when you get to the next screen after a long load(says Career Mode and shows your character-it doesn't ask you to save yet-but don't panic),you must then press the triangle button to exit and then it will ask you if you want to save,so choose yes and then the slot to save in on the next screen.

However,if you didn't want to save the results because you're cheating,then you would just choose NO.If you then wanted to immediately play from your previous last save,just go into the 'Player Management' menu and choose 'Load Player',and then press 'Resume' on the next screen(if you had previously saved a game in progress), and you'll then go back to where your last save was before you left the previous career game.

The game also saves various career stats(% of flops seen,% of raises at various times,etc.), and you can even see your current game statistics at any time by pressing start and scrolling through the menu.However,if you quit your game and save it,when you later come back your current in game stats will all be gone and reset to zero(don't worry-they were still added and saved to your career stats)and instead will say that this is your first hand since it starts counting again from scratch,which is bit annoying.

Note:QUICK PLAY Mode will NOT save anything so it's best used for practice.However,only the Quick Play tournaments have one rebuy and one add-on available to you if you bust out(career mode has none).

Unfortunately,unless you have a great memory that can always recall from what position each player made a bet from,you'll usually have trouble determining how strong a player's hand is because you might forget how early or late they bet in a round.Did that person raise from first or from 5th position?I can't remember!This is because once a player folds,his name disappears from the screen,so you can't simply count from the dealer or big blind position.If you could see a birds-eye view of the table(like in WSOP)or have a table position graphic always shown (like in WCP2),then that would make it easy to always know from what position someone bet or raised etc.(based on seeing where the dealer or big blind is),which can then help you to determine how strong a hand that player may have.The earlier the bet,the stronger the hand is likely to be,and vice versa.However,even with a birds-eye view, it wouldn't help you remember which specific player raised pre-flop and from what position,if you're now playing just after the flop has been dealt or beyond.

Both you and the Cpu bots can also MUCK(not show your cards,even though you called,or were called by someone else)their losing hands so nobody knows what the losers had.However,sometimes the poker etiquette rules dictate that the player must show their cards first;like if they were first to check on the river and no one else bet,or they showed the most betting aggression on river,etc.

By allowing the MUCKING of called losing hands,it makes it tougher to know how the Cpu bots play since most of their losing hands are not shown.I don't like the fact that I can't force the Cpu bots to show me their called losing hands like you can in real life(though,it's not proper etiquette to do so).

Also,you have the option(from the settings menu),of showing ONLY your CALLED LOSING hands if you desire, but you CAN'T unfortunately show any of your hands if they are not called or you fold.

As well,you can choose(from the settings menu)to have the game automatically post your blinds and keep folding your hands till you come back to play.

Though,I have not played Stacked online,this seems to be the only time you might want to make your character smile or frown(press L1 or R1),since even the developers say it doesn't affect offline Cpu bot play.However, the game doesn't always let you smile or frown when you want to, for some unknown reason.

Again,as mentioned above in the CONTROL section of this review: from the settings menu(either before or during the game), you can choose to have your Hole cards ALWAYS displayed,or hidden if you desire(press triangle to then see them).

GRAPHICS: 5.5/10
For the PS2 version only(due to it's limited memory),there is both Major and Minor SLOWDOWN in Stacked,especially in 90 or 45 player tournaments,but it goes away once you get to the final table(9 handed).When the slowdown is at its worst,the game won't even let you make a bet for about two to five seconds.Although,this doesn't happen often enough to affect the gameplay.

There are 18 character types you can select from the start with a few hat choices etc.(6 are women-a few with minor cleavage-the game is called Stacked afterall).The 7 pros all must be unlocked.,I've only unlocked 3 of the 7 pros so far,but have played against all of them.Evelyn Ng does look better(still no cleavage though)and more realistic(even has her chin mole)than she does in the World Poker Tour game,but all the characters still stare blindly ahead like zombies and look like they belong in a wax museum.

The players also mostly just push air forward instead of their cards or chips or have them stick to the bottom of their hands displaying some of the worst collision detection in videogame history.Each player only has a few chips in front of them as well.

The cards are small like the other main games(except for the bigger cards of World Poker Tour)but I can still easily distinguish the suits(even though it DOESN'T have a four color deck option)and card values on my 32 inch tube television set.The win percentages for all-in showdowns are small but still readable(they appear near your character name-replaces hand strength %).If you press the triangle button it will show your hole cards much bigger in the hole cam at bottom right of screen and you can also see your overall hand strength % near your character name,briefly.It's nice that when you bet you can see a fairly close representation(betting half your stack looks like a few chips less than half,but it's close enough)of just how much of your entire chip stack you're betting(on the left side of the screen it shows a tall pile of chips-that's your stack).

Note:If Stacked had less slowdown,better collision detection,bigger cards and bigger,easier to read screen information(amounts bet,etc.),its Graphics would get an 8/10.

AUDIO: 5.5/10
Due to scheduling problems,Jennifer Harman was NOT able to add her voice to her in-game character,so instead they used a different voice that sounds nothing like hers.All of the other six pros have some funny and cute sayings and are all voiced by the real players.

Yes,the players often repeat phrases but at least most of them don't annoy me like the terrible sayings in other poker games and sometimes still make me laugh.You can shut them off, or instead choose: talk SOME or LOTS,or even lower their volume.

It's great that during All-Ins, you can quickly tell who's ahead after the flop and beyond(without looking at the cards or win %'s), because the characters say various things to let you know.Very nice touch!

The dealer audio and sound effects can be adjusted separately,too.However,the dealer will sometimes cut off what the other players are saying(when the dealer says:"post blinds please") after they win or lose a hand,as only one person can talk at a time(unlike WPT game,which DOES let several people talk at the same time).If you choose to shut OFF the Dealer audio it ALSO shuts OFF Daniel's Advice audio,and the players voices after a hand will STILL be cut off whenever the dealer is scheduled to say "post blinds please"(even though you don't hear the dealer speak,you hear a very faint noise,and then players voices are then cut off).

Stupidly,the sound effects of the chips landing on the table,etc.,occur a full second AFTER the actual action.I do,however,love the way the male or female dealer actually calls out the community cards as they are dealt (a console first),and if you take your time while betting, the Cpu players will start trash talking(gets repetitive and distracting,but you can always just mute the television sound or shut off the player audio while you're thinking (there is NO time limit for betting,so take all the time you need,though you can get the blinds to increase this way if you wait long enough).

SUMMARY:
According to one of the actual developers of the game whom I emailed,though the Stacked bots learn from you while you play,they will forget everything they learned once the game or tournament you are playing in ends.It's like a memory reset.This makes sense,since the PS2 has limited memory anyway.I still find the Stacked All-In A.I to be the best of any console poker game currently on the market(as of August 8th,2006),especially after playing for more than 45 minutes.Many people complain of crazy all-ins,but I only noticed that the first day I got the game,and after about 45 minutes they only called my all-ins with weak hands if they were bluffing,short-stacked,or falling behind in the tournament.Otherwise,they only called me with good to great hands(any ace,pocket pairs,suited cards or connecters)just like the ones I usually go all-in with.

Though the stacked bots(even the 7 pros) will usually fold to virtually any minimum raise or re-raise, the fun begins when they actually have a hand and play back at you.Otherwise,most people will begin to tire of constantly stealing the tiny blinds away from the Cpu bots, or instead always being forced to limp in(just calling or checking) with a very good hand and hope that the possible few extra callers don't get lucky and beat their pocket aces etc.

Therefore,the Cpu bots often leave you little choice but to rely on getting a good flop,which makes Stacked more dependent on luck than it should be.Though,don't believe people when they say the bots cheat and will suck out(win with weaker hands) way too often!I've played Stacked much longer than virtually any reviewer and know it doesn't cheat by betting big with crap hands and then sucking out for the win.Though,it does happen from time to time and looks like it knew what would happen,I've also won the same way and frequently watched it lose with great hands that it raised with pre-flop as well.

Still, Stacked just doesn't seem to play enough like real poker.Forget about raising the standard 3 or 4 times the big blind with a good hand like you should do,unless you just want to win the small or medium sized blinds with your A-K suited or big pocket pair.Just a simple minimum bet, or minimum two times the big blind raise or tiny re-raise, usually gets all the eight bots(or at least 6) to fold from any position(if you sneeze they'll probably fold too!).If they don't fold they usually have a good to great hand(unless short-stacked,bluffing or falling behind in tournament).Though this makes it very tough to beat them,you don't always play against so many super tight players at the SAME table in real life, so the boredom can set in quite quickly.Yes,it's even duller at times then playing against the check-happy World Poker Tour(WPT) Cpu players!

However,If you like playing console poker games,you'll still have fun playing Stacked.Even just watching Daniel's many detailed and basic Poker School video lessons will entertain and perhaps educate you,especially if you're new to hold'em.

Although,because all the 7 pros and two of the three casinos are locked out until you win or finish high up in the various career tournaments,it will take you about 10 hours or more(if you cheat by saving and re-loading and also get frequent lucky results)to unlock Josh and Evelyn(must play Limit Tournament to unlock her) and perhaps another 30 hours or more until you start to play against some of the pros in the locked 2nd or 3rd casino level tournaments(as long as the pros don't get eliminated early from the tournament).

So,if you don't have the time to unlock what you want,you may have to buy the game instead of renting it,but the slow pace and very tight play of Stacked may turn you off more than it hooks you,so it's probably best to rent it first anyway, to see if you can look past the dull moments and many flaws and still enjoy it like I do.

Again,as mentioned elsewhere in this review,you CAN save your games during career tournaments(just ignore the first screen that says you'll lose your progress if you leave,and the next screens will be the save screens).As well,use the Left Joystick(instead of the sluggish d-pad)to make mid-range bets to avoid frustration.

OVERALL GRADE: 6.5/10
Slow,but steady enough to entertain poker fans looking for more practice playing against mostly very tight players.The Cpu bots will mostly only play very good to great hands after a minimum raise is made,otherwise they usually just fold.

Stacked doesn't even have chips on the table

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: July 06, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Poker Players beware...if you even played poker before, this game is like Mtv in an old folk's home. The game play is slow, the characters are not that lifelike. It just doesn't make sense to go into it with a 2/3 off suit, and they do! They win with it too! Buy WSOP it is way better!

A Very Good Poker Game!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Stacked is surprisingly very good and has great graphics. You basically create a character and then play games of Texas Hold 'Em to win new casinos and go to higher rankings. Eventually you get to face Daniel himself! Oh, and they also have online tournaments for those who want to play online. The only things wrong with this game is that the game is confusing at first if you don't know how to play Texas Hold 'Em, the game can be slow at times, and the characters often say the same thing over and over again. (eg)Oh I'm raising. Though there are a few flaws, this game is very good and at $[...], you really can't go wrong with Stacked.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one of the better poker games that I have played. The opponents are not predictable and it truly simulates a real poker game. I like this game for the poker play, the graphics are not terrific, but not bad either.

My wife basically learned how to play poker using stacked and has often gotten sucked into playing games or even watching me play.

I definitely recommend this game for any level poker player.

Aggravating Glitches--missing money

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 23, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I agree with many of the reviews discussing how "slow" the game is. However, real poker is slow,with many hands simply folded around to late position. TV coverage makes it seem like every hand is dramatic.

My big problem with the game is that there are some major glitches with regards to money and pot management. I have notice that often in 3 way pots if the small stack is eliminated, I only get THEIR chips, and not the chips from the side pot. This glitch cost me over 4,000 in chips that I should have won in the three way pot. Several times in tournaments, I have noticed my stack is smaller than it was before the pot, AND I JUST WON the pot. yes, it is just a game, but I don't feel like investing a few hours in playing (remember, the game play is slow) only to be "glitched"

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