Win@Texas Hold 'em

Poker and gambling have joined drinking your bodyweight in cheap booze and high street fisticuffs as one of the nation's favourite pastimes. But if the escalating debt of young Britons today is any indication, it seems that many people are indulging in high stake games of Texas Hold 'em and other poker variants without understanding anything about the game other than you can sometimes say the words 'hit me' without risk of injury.

Win@Texas Hold 'em might seem to be a godsend for those who like to pretend to be casino high-flyers at the weekend yet lack the necessary know-how. You see, besides the actual table sections, Win@Texas Hold 'em comes with page after page of poker playing tips. But although they're certainly informative, the hints don't really help this poker game stand out from the swathes of others that have already made their presence felt on mobiles.

First impressions are good, mind. There are plenty of options to choose from, including what your player looks like, how much cash you start with, and whether you will play with a full or a half deck.

Then there are the tips, something that novices should read before they dive into an actual game. The biggest problem here is that for a game that places its emphasis squarely on providing in-depth tips on learning how to be a decent poker player, Win@Texas Hold 'em seems to have its priorities mixed up.

Crucially, there are no in-game tips, meaning that you have to stock up on knowledge and then wade into a game hoping that you have retained everything you have read. There is the option to pause the game at any time and trudge back through the options to where the relevant tip lies (a process that is not as clearly marked out as it could be), but this interrupts the flow and does little to nurture the wobbly-kneed poker-playing foal who is after hands-on guidance.

There is the offer of a real-time opinion on whether you should fold or stay in the game. In practice this often wrong, though, as the AI players prove extremely easy to bluff. Going in with a high initial bet and raising the stake at every opportunity convinces opposing players to fold at least seven times out of ten.

Strangely, if ever you do choose to fold, AI players very rarely bluff their way to victory against one another, further compounding the restrictions of what you'll learn by playing.

The presentation is nothing to shout about, either, with much of the text painfully small and the cards themselves sometimes being too tiny to read at a glance. Worse still is the music, which sounds like the soundtrack to a slapstick silent movie and belies the mood that the serious-faced player avatars otherwise get across.

As a learning tool for the absolute beginner, Win@Texas Hold 'em may prove useful for around half an hour: the tips section does include useful info such as an index of winning hands and a glossary of player jargon. Actual play tips are badly organised though, and the game is far too formulaic to really test any skills.

Seeing as several other games of the same genre are much better mentors, Win@Texas Hold 'em simply doesn't have what it takes to stay in the game.