No limit Texas hold 'em has swept the country as the latest fad--the most popular style of poker played today. Most people are familiar with this type of poker, which is played at a full table with anywhere from 6 to 10 people. The manner in which the game is played becomes markedly different, however, when there are fewer players in the game. Playing one on one, or "heads up," is considered one of the ultimate challenges of wit and skill in the poker world. Heads Up Hold 'Em, from Grind Games, attempts to re-create the experience of playing this style of poker, as it is limited strictly to heads up, no limit play against a single computer opponent. However, the lack of multiplayer, along with an artificial intelligence that is easily exploited, makes the game difficult to recommend.
As the title suggests, there is only one game type available in the game--heads up, no limit hold 'em. You can't play any other type of hold 'em, nor can you set the blind structure to go up at intervals. As a matter of fact, the blinds don't go up at all until you beat your first opponent at the $5-$10 level. There are 10 different opponents in all, ranging from a cheesy-looking cowboy, to a hip-hop wannabe, and even a fellow who bears a good resemblance to "Baghdad Bob," the former Iraqi Information Minister. Not one of these opponents animates, but they do talk trash to you via cartoon speech bubbles (on the LG VX8000, the only sound in the game comes from the clicks as the deck is dealt). Despite that touch, Heads Up Hold 'Em is rather sparse in a graphical sense, with bare-looking backgrounds and a lack of any sort of animation. At least the cards are large and easy to read, though.
From a gameplay sense, Heads Up Hold 'Em is extremely lacking. The computer is predictable and dumb at the same time. It will almost always raise you if you only call the preflop, and it will also always bet out if you check the flop. This makes it easy for you to wait until you hit a top pair or a set on the flop, and then punish the AI's overaggressiveness with a healthy check-raise. At times, you can even abuse the computer when you bet out, as it seems to overvalue middle or low pairs and has a difficult time folding these hands. Even when the computer doesn't hit anything on the flop, it has a tendency to stay in hands all the way to the river, provided you don't overbet on any street. If you think you have the computer beat and want to bleed it out, you can just bet less than half the pot, and it will usually stay with you all the way to the bitter end, even if it's just holding a couple of undercards to the board.
In our very first hour with the game, we managed to get all the way to the eighth opponent, with the blinds reaching up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's still difficult to beat all 10 opponents, but you'll find that it often has more to do with the luck aspect of poker than any sort of skill in the AI. If you're patient and know what you're doing, Heads Up Hold 'Em won't provide you with much challenge. This is where the lack of any sort of multiplayer element really hurts the game.
With the lack of gameplay types, no multiplayer, and a brain-dead AI powering your opponents, any experienced poker player should steer clear of Heads Up Hold 'Em.
