MSN Games' Texas Hold 'Em Poker: Knowing When to Fold

MSN Games by Zone.com is a portal to myriad online and downloadable games. One of the most popular is Texas Hold 'Em Poker.

After setting up an account and creating a username (celiasoftwicke2), I started the game, choosing the quick version. This version allows players, who all happen to be real people, only 25 seconds to make a move before the computer takes over their turn. After three computer-generated turns, the computer will boot that player from the game and take over completely, leaving the rest of the table playing against the dreaded "bot". They can be difficult to take out and are annoying when it comes to raising and calling.

My competitors sported usernames ranging from their geographic location (_tex_cowboy) to their actual name (pete_dan8) to silly nonsense names (LiberalLlama). Immediately _tex and another player, Morhead, got into a conversation about the word, "y'all". MSN Games provides a chat module on the side of the game so players can converse with each other. I have seen a lot of interesting conversations here. Some include men flirting with the few ladies at the table, to anal retentive players who continually gripe about how long it takes for everyone to play their hand. Every once in a while a spar will occur, usually between two players, and everyone else sits back and laughs at the moronic display. There are graphics, as well, from smileys to flowers to animals. The two most widely used graphics are the turtle and the donkey, usually for appropriate reasons.

The game plays like other online poker games, but this version is free. The computer starts each player out with $100 worth of chips. The rounds are six minutes a piece, and the binds gradually increase, just like in real life. And depending on the players, the game can be a quick few rounds, or last more than an hour.

To keep tabs on your winnings, as well as other players, one only has to place the pointer over the chips. It is usually fairly simple to tell who is leading and who is not just by looking at the pictures of the chips placed next to each player's icon around the table. Players can also bet, call and raise as they wish.