Prominence Poker

When I first heard about Prominence Poker, I will admit, I was a little skeptical in regards to how good a free-to-play poker game could actually be. However, a few hours after I started playing, I could see why so many people were hooked on this. This game plays a damn fine and fun game of poker, and while it may not be perfect for those who take their poker super seriously. For a free-to-play game, I got quite a few hours of entertainment out of this before I had my free-to-play fill with it.

The Mayor Of The Town

The biggest surprise about Prominence Poker is that this game has an actual story mode! The main character is a guy called The Mayor, and he is the one who is in charge of the town, and he runs the poker games. He takes an interest in us and as we rise through the ranks, taking on the four faction leaders of the town, he may make it so you hit the big time. Honestly, this story may not be all that deep, but it is way more entertaining than it has any right to be, and off the top of my head, I cannot think of another poker game that offers a story like this.

Going All In At The Table

I spent most of my time with Prominence Poker playing the story mode, as I am a below-average poker player. If I am being honest, my main experience with poker is the poker mini game in WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2006 and the Poker Yahtzee game that we break out every Christmas! However, for those who want to test their skills against other players, you can play a round table game with several other players; the top three are the only ones who get winnings! Or, if you prefer a more all-or-nothing and going all-in kind of game of poker, you can play one-on-one games. Let me tell you, I sure as heck did not have the nerves for these head-to-head games… or the poker skills.

Taking A Sip

One of the things that I feel will possibly go against Prominence Poker if you are a serious poker player is that the game has some power-ups, for lack of a better term. For example, drinks and snacks on the table can help give you an edge by doing stuff like letting you get a peek at your opponent's card. There were a few games where, if I am being honest, I suspect that the AI was not exactly playing all that fair, if you get what I mean, but this was mainly as I progressed deeper into the game. At the end of the day, this is a free-to-play game, but I applaud them, as while I hit a wall with my skills, I never felt like the game was screwing me over so that I would spend money on it.

A Rather Interesting Group Of Poker Players

I got a kick out of the weird style that Prominence Poker had going on. The characters look super weird; they kind of remind me of the newer Sims games, actually. However, the best part of the visuals is that you can create your own poker player! There is a pretty solid character creation suite on offer here, and the more money that you make, the more stuff that you can buy for your character. The stuff is quite expensive, so you will have to win quite a few games in order to get the stuff you want. However, there is something very satisfying about rocking an item you worked hard to get.

Pros:

• I liked creating my character
• The story mode was a lot of fun
• There is a pretty big online community to play with
• The power-up thing is interesting

Cons:

• The AI sometimes feels like it is not playing fair
• I could see this becoming addictive for some people