I guess you can consider me late for the entire Poker phenomenon that has sprung up over the past few years. Sure I've played a few games of five card stud, blackjack and other card games in the past but I never got hooked on the games. I did enjoy the movie Rounders, after finally watching it over a year ago, and started to appreciate the game more than ever. Slowly I started to watch a few tournaments on television and even played a few online poker games. But for me the poker rush didn't come until just recently and it wasn't even an addiction that made me have to see every tournament, play every game or go out and compete at local tournaments. I enjoy poker, I play it on occasion and that's where it ends. Well, with World Championship Poker 2 there must be a ton of you out there that must have a stronger addition to poker than I.

World Championship Poker 2 (WCP2) allows you to play poker against professional poker players such as Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer, Amir Vahedi, Paul Darden and others. However, instead of just playing against those legends you have to earn your way up the poker circuit by playing in a variety of tournaments. You start off at the bottom of the circuit by playing games at a friend's house and work your way up the ranks by winning. The game includes a create-a-character module so you can personalize your character that you want to use in the career mode. The create-a-character options were decent with enough variety of different combinations to use. The mode doesn't compare to a create-a-character mode in an RPG or wrestling game but it should give poker players enough options. The career mode even includes the ability to purchase new furniture for your pad and new items for your character.

The gameplay of WCP2 is where the game tends to sputter. Since the game is poker you have to contend with the ability of your character and your competition in bluffing or showing a tell (usually an involuntary signals to the other players on what type of cards you have). The game tries to display the emotions and reactions of the players by certain body movements or vocal queues. But the characters tend to say the same phrases repeatedly and perform the same acts repeatedly. It seemed the majority of the players had a bad case of the shakes right before they would make a bet. I guess the shakes were supposed to be the "tell" to notify the other players how nervous and/or excited my character was about the hand I had. The phrases were usually a wisecrack about another player's abilities or frustrations about the cards dealt. The majority of the characters in the game had the same voices and phrases being repeatedly consistently.

Learning to read the tells and bluffs of the other players was never an exact science and nor should it be. It seems the point of being a good poker player is to make the other players think you always have the best hand, no matter how bad your cards are in your hand. I can't say for 100% accuracy that WCP2 did this in a convincing matter since everyone in the game loved going all in all the time. By going all it you are down to a 50/50 chance of success, either you win the hand or you are out of the game entirely. I had the best success in the game by letting all of the computer-controlled characters battle it out with each other by going all in. Once there was only one player to compete against then I would try to win by bluffing with my raises. I say let the suckers fall first and then you have the best shot of winning. After you win one of the tournaments in the game you earn points that you can use to upgrade your character. The upgrades range from slowing down the mini game to learning to read other players better.

Oh, you might be wondering about the mini game that I mentioned in the last sentence. Well let's just say that the mini game, in my opinion, is a waste of time when playing the game. The mini game is designed to allow you to control your tells in the game when you have the best hand. Let me stop right there and say why should the computer tell me that I have the best hand in the game? I'm not supposed to know, I should never know but I can guess, which is why players bluff. If you don't perform the mini game properly then your player will perform his tell animation to the other players. I guess the other players in the game could care less about my tell because it never seemed to impact the game. People would still try to bluff me by going all in even after my tell animation kicked in.

In the end I have to say that World Championship Poker 2 is not the game that most poker players will be scrambling to get. It offers just enough to keep the crazy poker addicts busy for a little bit longer. The game includes several variety of games, from Texas Hold 'Em to 7 Card Stud. The ability to play against other players online in the multiplayer mode is always a welcomed feature. But besides these two features, which can be found on a variety of poker sites, the rest of the game is low on features.

Gameplay: 5.2
If you forget about the weird tell animations, the constantly repeated phrases and terrible voice acting of the players then the actual poker in the game is decent. Just remember, let the suckers go out first and then you play.

Graphics: 5.0
The best part of the graphics had to be the poker tables. As you advance in the games the poker tables go from grimy and dirty to shiny and clean. The graphics of the characters will remind some gamers of graphics from five years ago. Even with the amount of options in the create-a-character mode all of the characters still look similar to each other because of their arms and hands. I know that sounds strange but it's true.

Sound: 5.0
The majority of the voice-over work in the game had to be done by the same two or three people. Even the announcer in the game, who does the play-by-play calls during all of the games, gets to play some of the characters in the game. The phrases were usually dumb with only a few offering some humor. The music in the game reminded me of what you would hear on an elevator or playing in the background at a casino. Generic music that does an acceptable job of being in the background.

Difficulty: Medium
If you try to be adventurous then you will probably pay the price and lose quickly. If you play it cautious and conservative then you have the best chance of success.

Concept: 6.0
I did like the idea of the career mode and working your way up the poker ladder. Playing in damp and dusty basements and then finally playing in a casino is a nice accomplishment. The create-a-character mode is a nice feature as well but the rest of the game doesn't do enough to make it stand out.

Multiplayer: 6.5
The game supports online multiplayer with voice chat and web cameras. There wasn't a bunch of players online when I tried to play but I was able to join the games without any problems. Playing against actual human opponent was more satisfying then playing against the computer. It would have been even better if the spoken phrases and animations were removed.

Overall: 5.5
To end this review I'm going to mention one of my favorite shows on television which was the short-lived series called Lucky. The show was about a former poker champion trying to earn his way back into the next championship game. I thought it was funny show that made fun of poker but still offered an insight into the game and the surroundings of the game. The show was only on the air for one short lived season which makes me wonder why it didn't catch on. The poker craze is going strong and the gaming market is flooded with poker games.  I wonder why certain games (and television shows) don't make it to the next level with gamers while other games seemed to spew out sequels without any thought. WCP2 tries to give players a poker game with a little bit extra in the mix such as career mode and mini game but we're still left with a game that is close to empty. Players that must have every poker game won't think twice about getting WCP2. The rest of us should take a step back and think for a moment.