Mobile Phone Poker - PokerChipStack

Software and Graphics
First impression of the software were very good. The in-game graphics are pleasing and resemble the computer version, with all the same characters and similar presentation.
The software is fairly basic, and as the software plays limit Poker only 3 buttons are required for in-game moves (fold/check, check/call, and bet/raise). Making the games very easy to control and play.

The in-game action is fairly easy to comprehend. It would be very difficult to fit a full table onto the whole screen, so the table scrolls as the action passes around the table. You can also move left and right across the table as you please.

One problem with the graphics is that the cards are quite small making the suits difficult to recognise, thankfully the 4-coloured deck feature has been included.

Connectivity
We tested the game in and around central London, where there are plenty of high-rise buildings and "dark-spots" for mobile connection. We used a Sony Ericsson K750i on the Orange network.

Connectivity was surprisingly good, and fairly stable. I found myself playing games for the full length of my journey home from work (which includes a train and a bus ride). While you could play for hours on end, with no loss on connections, inevitably, you will be cut off if you get onto the tube, or enter a tunnel. We also found that disconnections occurred in other places. Sometimes you would unexpectedly drop connection, even if you weren't moving.

Unlike on the PC, there is no disconnect-protect, so if you get cut-off you are automatically folded out of the hand. Once disconnected, the program attempts to re-connect, if it is unable to do so you lose your seat. This did hinder the game somewhat, on a couple of occasions I was cut-out right in the middle of some action. On some occasions, the program would crash, this normally happened when the connection level was low. Because of this, I stuck mainly to playing on $0.25/$0.50, a nice level where I didn't mind being disconnected too much, but was still playing for real money.

After a months playing, I had found the games were particularly easy at the low-limits. I would often make around $5-$10 on my journey home.

One other issue I encountered was that my phones backlight would constantly switch-off if I hadn't pressed a key for a certain amount of time. This meant I was having to flick keys after folding to see if a new hand had started. Sometimes I would miss hands because of this, which was quite annoying.

Cost
While the game costs nothing to download, and can be played for free against computer controlled characters. It connects online using GPRS, which is charged by your network operator.

The PokerRoom website states that an hours play uses roughly 350-900 kilobytes, which is quite vague. After a months play, my phone bill stated that I had used a little over 4 megabytes. I estimate that I spent roughly 5-6 hours. I was charged around ï¿½5 for this, but I had previously purchased a data bundle that made it a bit cheaper.

The cost per megabyte will be vary for different networks and tariffs. I recommend that you buy a pre-pay 'data bundle' pack which most network operators offer, this normally works out a lot cheaper.

Conclusion
Mobile Poker works, which in itself is quite amazing. Whether this will have the same effect as when Poker first became available to play online is still yet to be seen.

I normally don't bother with games on my mobile phone, as lets be honest, they normally don't offer much more than 5 minutes of amusement. PokerRoom is different, simply because it's Poker your playing. It has given a new use for my phone, and has really made me quite excited about the prospects of mobile gaming.

At the moment, there are obvious deterrents which make the game unsuitable for high-stakes Poker, this may be enough to discourage some players enough from trying it. There are also some problems with the software itself. Although for a first attempt, and with currently no other Poker rooms offering anything similar, you can't really go wrong with PokerRoom's mobile Poker, and I would recommend you give it a try.