AMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.

What the Game's About
The World Series of Poker 2008 is one large game of Texas Hold 'Em. You start out as a rookie betting against some of the world biggest names in professional poker. You start can start a career playing in famous casinos and work your way up the ladder to one day be a poker legend. You are also can go online and see how well you do up against other people around the world with the inclusion of an online mode.

What's Hot
Right off the bat, you can tell a lot of work went in securing the famous names to include in the game. Part of the fun of the game is to pretend you are sitting at the same table as card sharks that don't think twice about dropping $20,000 on a hand. Creating a poker avatar is one of the highlights of the game. Funny options (including mullets) are available to pick from and you can look however you want.

There is more to the game than Texas Hold 'Em but gambling is the name of the game. Seven Card Stud, Omaha and Horse are present and accounted for in addition to the wildly popular, now default game of poker. Going online will expand the replay value, which turns out is one of the main selling points of the game. There are some fresh ideas like completing hands will give you access to poker tools in game that include such things as predicting your odds at winning. You Winning collector chips, which function as achievements, are always fun to try and unlock, even if the game relies totally on the luck of the draw but can force you to play more recklessly.

What's Not
World Series of Poker 2008, as a video game, lacks the adrenaline pumping, placing fate into the hands of luck thrill of real poker. To Activision's credit, it is hard to make a compelling game that is more or less based on a random number generator. WSOP 08 is a great way to practice your poker game but don't expect much more from it.

Some of the character models are not pleasing to look at. It's a shame because for a title like this, you'd hope they would throw the kitchen sink at the graphics. Granted, your character and the dealer look pretty good but that isn't the only problem.

The one-liners, commentary and verbal insults fall flat. The use of the real poker stars was a great idea but they have no acting experience and deliver boring lines. To add to that, there are pros who don't move their mouth when they say something. It wouldn't have been that bad if all the pros spoke telepathically but when some move their lips and others don't, the inconsistency drives us nutty.

Final Word
World Series of Poker 2008 is aimed at poker players and doesn't reach out to a broader base. With that in mind, WSOP succeeds for those targeted consumers. To its benefit, you are able to sit down with poker stars without having to put a third mortgage on your home and you can hone your skills by using the neat poker tools to play the odds. Online is the best thing this title has going for it because it offers something playing cards with your friends can't, picking out opponents from far and near and trying to bluff your way to the top. The graphics and animation are inconsistent and look dated. You can't fault the game for being shallow, because it is what it is – a card game. It is hard to get past how tame WSOP 08 is but poker players will find something they can chew on.