Thursday, October 05, 2006
Losers' Lounge
Posting this early so no one'll think Phil's soccer team lost today's game. Look for an update on that tonight.
No, this Losers' Lounge refers to where the non-winners of Celebrity Poker Showdown go after they've non-won at Texas Hold'em. That's where I'm spending a lot of time with the Texas Hold'em game Apple released last month for the fifth-generation iPod (not the Nano, which I do like the new look of). And I'm lovin' every minute of it (especially since there's no Kathy Griffin lounging in the iPod version).
There are seven tournaments to play in the game. You start in Cupertino (Apple's hometown). I beat that scene frequently. Then you move up to Tournament #2: Macau in Southeast Asia. That's a 2-table tournament. You've got to beat the first table to get to the second and beat that to get to the next tournament. You win $1,000 for beating Cupertino and Macau has a $500 buy-in, so you've got two shots to make it big. I've never made it big (it would be nice if you could use the $3,000 you take from beating the first table and have three shots at the $1,000 second table, but that's not the way it goes). Still, it's a fun game. Clever animations; I'm getting to where I can read some of the players' "tells" (tics that give away whether a player has a good hand or are bluffing). But I'm not heading to Vegas with mad skills any time soon.
At $5 the game's a bargain. And although it's addicting, you can save and step away from the table at any time. Not saying you can quit; you'll be back for sure. There are complimentary Blue Diamond smokehouse-flavored almonds at the Losers' Lounge, after all.
No, this Losers' Lounge refers to where the non-winners of Celebrity Poker Showdown go after they've non-won at Texas Hold'em. That's where I'm spending a lot of time with the Texas Hold'em game Apple released last month for the fifth-generation iPod (not the Nano, which I do like the new look of). And I'm lovin' every minute of it (especially since there's no Kathy Griffin lounging in the iPod version).
There are seven tournaments to play in the game. You start in Cupertino (Apple's hometown). I beat that scene frequently. Then you move up to Tournament #2: Macau in Southeast Asia. That's a 2-table tournament. You've got to beat the first table to get to the second and beat that to get to the next tournament. You win $1,000 for beating Cupertino and Macau has a $500 buy-in, so you've got two shots to make it big. I've never made it big (it would be nice if you could use the $3,000 you take from beating the first table and have three shots at the $1,000 second table, but that's not the way it goes). Still, it's a fun game. Clever animations; I'm getting to where I can read some of the players' "tells" (tics that give away whether a player has a good hand or are bluffing). But I'm not heading to Vegas with mad skills any time soon.
At $5 the game's a bargain. And although it's addicting, you can save and step away from the table at any time. Not saying you can quit; you'll be back for sure. There are complimentary Blue Diamond smokehouse-flavored almonds at the Losers' Lounge, after all.
Mikesell
