Poker Club

Poker Club on Steam/PS4/5 and Xbox

From Donkey to Shark

My first poker experience was back on PlayStation 3 on a game called High Stakes Poker on the Vegas Strip. When I first started playing, I had no clue as to what a pair, a straight, a flush, the flop, nothing. I was clueless. Nevertheless, I not only enjoyed it, but I went out of my way to learn to play Texas Hold’em. From placing bets, pot odd, implied odds, bluff bets, watching videos, I did all I could to learn and I did. Playing on High Stakes, on the PS3, was one of the most fun I’ve had in a video game. We all had mics, we all ripped, ranked, needle, trolled, each other and we, for the most part would die laughing, at the same time busting out big mouth donk that thought they new how to play. I’m telling you, it was a blast. At the same time, I met some really nice people. As a matter of fact, I’m still in touch with some of them, today.

Poker Is a Social Game

When the High Stakes Servers shut down, it was sad and frustrating at the same time, at least for me, since there weren’t any other online poker games on console like High Stakes. But, we made the best of it on the very last day. Regardless of the troll, poker is a social game, it always has been. Whether it’s for real or play money, it’s a social game. The memories of those days continue with me to this day and when I think about it, I start laughing. I miss it to be honest and that’s the point, too leave that kind of impression long after your done playing. Sadly, Poker Club missed that ball in that department.

Play Style Matters

Poker Club is a gorgeous game… That’s pretty much where it ends. Poker Club’s chose to have NPC’s for solo play and that’s fine. Every NPC has a short bio, along with their play style; letting you know the type of player the NPC is. However, all the NPC, regardless of playstyle, all NPC’s play the same way and it’s 100% annoying. NPC’s 3 bet, 4 bet and go all in pre-flop, out of position and with complete air. NPC’s bluff to much. It’s constant and 100% unrealistic. There’s no way to push NPC’s off a hand. When you push, NPC’s push back harder, or go all in pre-flop and in most cases, all 8 of the NPC push all in. Even if you have AA pre flop, you’re aces can get cracked simply because the odds are against you. NPC need an 100% overhaul. continuous bluffing, 2-bet, 3-bet, 4-bet all in pre-flop, it’s over done, unrealistic and there’s no reason for it; other than go have the human player lose all their money to buy chips from the chip store. I love playing Texas Hold’em but the NPC’s, again, need a 100% overhaul or be completely removed from online cash games. Play Style is irrelevant when you have all NPC’s playing the same way.

No Friends List, No Text or Voice Chat

Poker Club needs an in-game Friends List to add players. Adding a Friends List give the player direct accesses to invite poker buddies to a cash game and/or tournament(s). it’s a no brainer. Also, Poker Club needs a text chat and/or voice chat to communicate with other players. At the present moment, there has been zero updates to address concerns. Sure, you have clubs, but none of the clubs are active. Clubs are pointless. You’re better off with a friends so you can directly invite or, friends can join you by just clicking on a JOIN tab.

Poker Club is a Wasted Gem

As of today, Poker Club is dead. If you have 10 people at most, it’s a record and I’m not exaggerating. Ripstone has a gem of a Poker game and doesn’t even know it or, they just simply don’t care. Theirs also small glitches as where your cards are blank, you have no idea what you have. Again, all these annoyances can be fixed with a patch. Poker is and has always been a social game. NPC’s are broken. No friends list, clubs are filled with people that are never online, no way to communicate, NPC need a massive over hau. Poker Club came out in 2020, just, two years old at the time of me writing this blog, there is no reason why a two year old game is dead. However, Poker Club could have been a Gem. Sadly, It doesn’t play good as it looks. However, the developers still have time to fix issues. The questions is, will they? For us who love poker, we have to wait an see.

Simple Fixes is All The Game Needs

If you look at all the poker games that have been out long before Poker Club, ask yourself, how is it that these poker games can grow and maintain a player base, yet, Riptone can’t duplicate the same? The fixes are simple: ease of use, friends list, no NPC’s in pub tables, add a poker table list where active poker tables are listed from the lowest to the highest buy-in. Call it “a quality of life” update.

If the developers add any “quality of life” updates to improve Poker Club, I’ll make an addition to this blog and change the current score.