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edit: the mobile version went free since the review was posted, edited that part of the review.

texas holdem poker: solo king is a single-player poker game against 245 different ai opponents, yet it requires not only a constant internet connection, but also a 3rd-party account. the former is for online leaderboards, the latter is for cross-platform play. the mobile version initially cost another $7, which was a bit excessive, but now it's free with ads.

creating an account only needs a name and a password, no email or credit card info (there are no in-app purchases or ads even in the mobile version), but it shold be optional. same for the constant internet connection. I don't care about leaderboards and I don't appreciate having to log in again after 2 minutes of idling because the connection timed out. in a single-player game there shouldn't be any mandatory online elements, and if there are, they shouldn't hinder gameplay like this.

rounds can be continued after logging in again, but there is no way to pause, and if you want to quit, make sure to only leave the game when you don't have any money on the table, or say goodbye to it. hate it when games waste my time and don't let me quit without consequences when I want or have to.

it would be fine otherwise, the graphics are functional, the avatars don't look bad (there are only a few of them though, I ended up playing against myself pretty soon), the sound effects are okay, though there's no music, nor volume settings (it's weird because the screenshot on the store page has one). windowed mode and resolutions are available, rules are explained in-game, the possible combinations can be brought up any time during a round, there's a speed toggle (fast or normal) and player statistics, but also many typos and grammatical mistakes and settings aren't available while playing a round.

you start with $5 million and can try 2 game modes: shoot-out tournament is for 5-9 players, while heads-up is against one player at a time. if you lose all your money, you'll get more, of course, but since the game is so proud of its high number of opponents, I wouldn't mind a custom mode where you can select who you want to play against, based on their difficulty.

when it's your turn, there's a timer going round the avatar, but nothing happens when it runs out, so it's either buggy and should be fixed and made optional, or pointless, in which case it should be removed because it's unnecessarily distracting.

if online and 3rd-party requirements were made optional and more game modes and customization got added, I could recommend it, but it's still worth looking into if you're not bothered by such things.

Single Player:
The Good: The AI is pretty smart went it comes to betting and card play.
The Bad: Almost everything else - graphics and layout are dated; limited sound effects; player wins a tournament and no game reaction.
Comparison: Trendpoker Community Edition has a poor AI went it comes to betting and card play but great graphics and interaction with the player - it's fun.

needs to have a way to change seats at the table if so desired.

Amazing Poker game. Smart and very aggressive AI.
I love it.

it does not boot up all the time. It is not reliable to play.

Good poker AI and program functionality. Read the sound fix at the end of the Store Page program description If the game doesn't output sound in Steam.
I don't like the obligation to be always online to play this single player game, this should not be necessary.

I would like to see further improvements like:
- Take away the unnecessary 'be online' obligation, make use of other Steam DRM instead;
- Make a better game manual explaining the colored groups 1-8 in the range displays
- Allow to setup and save AI personalities to use for running virtual game sessions with statistics.


[From Google Translate:]
良好的扑克人工智能和程序功能。 阅读商店页面程序说明末尾的声音修复 如果游戏在 Steam 中不输出声音。
我不喜欢一直在线玩这个单人游戏的义务，这应该没有必要。

我希望看到进一步的改进，例如：
- 取消不必要的“在线”义务，改用其他 Steam DRM；
- 制作更好的游戏手册，解释范围显示中的彩色组 1-8
- 允许设置和保存 AI 个性以用于运行具有统计信息的虚拟游戏会话。

Generally, this is a great game. Since I am beginner to Texas Holdem, I am currently using this game to practice my skill of Texas Holdem. However, I am not quite sure if the frequency of 'all-in' by other NPC (AI opponent ) is normal, sometimes they just do the 'all-in' even for the 'high card' (like K and and another current kicker) at the beginning and middle of each game, and there would be one NPC do the 'all-in' in each 6 or 8 games (or 'rounds', I am not sure about term, I just mean the period between giving the pot to the winner) . If it comes to me then I would consider the 'all-in' if I have a 'three of a kind' or any higher. This really confuse me because I would assume they are holding 'two pairs' or higher, but it turns out with 'high card', so it end up with I just cannot judge cards in NPC's hand frequently. I understand this is a kind of 'bluff' and also a way to kick people out, but is it real to have this when each player have only one thousand in game stakes with such a frequency? If this is how people play in the real world, then Texas Holdem is probably not for me, because I would not wish to lose my entire play in a single game (or round) if I do not have a win rate with 80% or 90%, and I would not do the 'bluff' by 'all-in' for such a frequency. I would be glad if anyone could tell me if the frequency of 'all-in' in this game on steam is realistic or not, thanks! 总的来说，这是一个好游戏。由于我是德扑的初学者，我目前正在使用这个游戏来练习我的德扑技能。然而，我不太确定npc（AI对手）"all-in"的频率是否正常，有时他们在只有“高牌”（比如K和另一个当前踢脚牌）的牌型就“all-in”，甚至在'flop'（发三张公共牌）前就拿着高牌'all-in'的情况也发生过将近10次，个人感觉基本上每6到8局就会有一个NPC "all-in"。换作是我，我只会在手里有或和公共牌组合成“两对”的情况下"all-in"。这让我非常头疼，以为对手手里拿的至少是“两对”或以上，结果对手只拿了个“高牌”，现在搞得我有“all-in”的局完全不知道对手拿的是啥。我知道这是一种诈唬或尽快把玩家踢出局的手段，但以每6到8局就来一次的频率（指诈唬）是不是太过频繁了？而且在每个玩家筹码数量都差不多的情况下就"all-in"以尽快踢玩家出局是不是太过冒险了？如果德扑真的像这游戏里的情况一样那这游戏可能真的不适合我，毕竟我不会在没有80%或90%胜率的情况下把我所有的筹码/计分牌全部压在一局游戏里，即使我要“all-in”诈唬也不会像这游戏里一样频繁。如果有任何人能回答我的上述问题或告诉我这种“all-in”是否真实，我将不胜感激，多谢！