mFortune HiLo Poker

We feel like we should begin this review with a warning. HiLo Poker is extremely addictive and you can play it online for real money. Hence, don't blame us if you're reduced to nicking audio players from cars parked outside your local corner shop in order to feed your gambling habit a few months from now. If that's likely to be you, read no further.

HiLo Poker is free to download to your phone (here) and a demo version lets you play the full game with a pretend stack of cash all you like. Register (done via your phone) and you're even given an initial £5 credit for free.

The form of poker played in the game is Draw Poker (also known as Video Poker, apparently). Unlike the other popular version, Texas Hold 'em, Draw Poker doesn't pit your against other players or even a dealer. It's just you and the cards with your goal being to simply obtain a winning poker hand, the odds for which are shown at the table.

You place your money bet before your five-card hand is dealt, and then choose which cards from this hand you want to hold onto before a second deal. If you're left with any of a number of poker hands – such as two pairs, three of a kind or a full house – your money is instantly multiplied by the odds shown. These range from a 2x multiplier for two pair to 500x for a Royal Flush. Yes, there's a chance you can win £500 through your phone from a £1 bet. That's one hell of a hook.

The gambling doesn't end with just a winning hand, however. There's one other element to get the gambler's heart really racing, for you can vastly increase your winnings by playing a game of higher or lower with five down-turned cards (think old Bruce Forsyth game show Play Your Cards Right – sorry, we couldn't think of a more recent reference point for the under 60s). For every card you guess correctly your winnings are doubled, potentially enabling you to earn a stack of cash.

Best of all, the minimum bet you can place is 10p, which makes the initial £5 credit last quite a while. Conversely, the maximum for the rich, hardcore gambler is £10. Because betting occurs before you know what your hand is, though, there's little skill involved with it. The stake you put down simply depends how lucky you're feeling and how much money you've got to spend.

And all this is pretty much HiLo Poker explained. For those who haven't played it before, it's a much more accessible type of poker game than the norm that feels almost like playing a slot machine. Accessing the online game is incredibly simple, just requiring a name, password and credit or debit card details and, once in it, it runs very quickly.

It's so easy, in fact, playing it reminds us of that fast food advert where the family cancels their night out at a restaurant because they'd rather stay in and eat a bargain bucket of cheap chicken. Now it's so easy to gamble away £20 on your phone you don't even need to go to your local pub or casino to do it. Our initial £5 lasted us quite a while, too, and we got several shots at the Hi/Lo money game.

While the visuals are quite basic and there are no sound effects, everything that needs to be conveyed is presented neatly with a clear table of the odds above your cards and all the information about your total credit, current bet and winnings at the top of the screen. Our only gripe is that it doesn't have a screen that tells or reminds you what cards you need for each poker hand.

True, it's a far slimmer offering than you can find elsewhere on mobile, but HiLo Poker is a competent, addictive poker game that you can happily while away the hours with. Just get your parents' permission before re-mortgaging their house and everyone should be happy.