Much like a sporting event, the game of poker has gained quite a loyal following to the point that tournaments are now being televised and its champions becoming familiar faces with fans. Then again, who can resist a tournament where much is at stake and the best of the best bluff, call or fold their way into poker history. Crave Entertainment has brought us a poker game before but now, with World Championship Poker 2, the game has gone portable on Sony’s PSP.

The game features three main modes of playing the game: Quick Play, Career and Multiplayer. There’s even an Extras menu with a number of mini games, but we will get to them shortly. The game’s real main mode of playing is Career, a mode that has you taking your created character through a series of tournaments that will have you going up against real-life champions like cover champion Howard Lederer, Amir Vahedi, Clonie Gowen and Robert Williamson III just to name a few. You will start on a World Map, picking a starting tournament against a group of other created characters as you play a variety of different poker games from the familiar Texas Hold’em to Seven-Card Stud.

The tournaments take your created character through a number of venues around the world, playing against a variety of players both uninteresting to oddly bizarre (a man named Duke with a jack-o-lantern for a head?). If you’re not familiar with the rules of a certain game, that’s quite all right since there is an option in the Pause menu that gives you a quick run through of the rules. Each table has its own ante size so you will start with low stakes games and finally move on to game where more money is at stake so you’ll have to have enough money to buy your way into these tables.

Here’s what makes this an excellent poker game that stands out among the sea of other poker and casino games. The opponents you go up against aren’t dull-witted nor will they play like the opponents you just finished playing in another tables. Each player seems to have his or her own personality, from aggressive to cautious. Each player has their own ways of bluffing, whether it’s raising an eyebrow or simply resting their chin under their fist. Some players will even give you a stone face making it hard to call their bluff. These players know when to call them and when to fold and when you are starting to show a weak hand. The game has a mini game within each game that allows you to try to control a bluff or tell by way of the analog stick. On paper this feature sounds great but pulling it off becomes more of an annoyance than a useful bluffing tool.

The card games are plentiful and they are actually quite good so fans of different styles of poker won’t feel left out. As I mentioned there is Texas Hold’em, Seven-Card Stud, Pineapple, Omaha (both High/Low and Omaha Eight) as well as 5 Card Draw. Fans of Razz Ace to 5 will be happy to find Razz 2 to 7 as well as Lowball Deuce to Seven. There are even exclusive online poker games like Chicago Low (or High) Spade, Tahoe, Super Eight, Five-Card Stud and Crazy Pineapple Eight. You can play all of the games through Quick Play and online using the PSP’s Wi-Fi Infrastructure mode. The best part is that you can play games against gamers who own the PS2 version of the game.

There are also a few mini games but these are more geared towards teaching casual poker players rules of the game, poker terms as well as offer a number of great poker playing tips. The games come in the form of Trivia, a glossary quiz, Hold’em Nicknames (where you give nicknames to sets of cards) as well as two other mini games. They’re not fun for the casual player but worth a glance for the more hardcore fan.

As far as the graphics are concerned, World Championship Poker 2 is a somewhat decent-looking game. For the most part the character models look somewhat all right and the champions do look a lot like the real thing when the camera focuses on them. There isn’t much of a character variety with the other characters, although you will encounter a few wacky characters. The locales range from some decent casino rooms to questionable ones like a storage basement. Each character has a few animations but at least you can tell when another player is giving you a poker face.

The game’s sound, on the other hand, is composed of a dull soundtrack filled with two or three jazz tunes that would feel more at home in an elevator. They play often throughout the game and it manages to get in the way of the ambient sounds. You’ll hear the other players, mostly clearing their throats, coughing or making their repetitive comments when they win. On some games you’ll hear the sound of an audience much like in a televised event. There’s commentary by Matt Savage who adds very little to the game. 

World Championship Poker 2 for the PSP is, by far, one of the best portable poker games that have a lot to offer anyone who has ever thought they have what it takes to hit the tournament circuit. You know the kind, right? That friend or uncle who says he could wipe the floor with champions like Howard Lederer, Greg Raymer or even Annie Duke. This is a game that is wonderfully challenging alone and even more fun going up against friends and other players online. While there are a few weak spots, it does not take away from the brilliant poker this game has dealt us.

Gameplay: 8.2
The control scheme is perfect in a portable medium and there are a pleasant number of card games that will please even the fans of games like Razz. The mini-games are not fun but they’re quite good at teaching even the most skilled poker player some interesting new tricks. The opponent AI is also smart and that is a very good thing. 

Graphics: 6.5
The visuals are actually quite disappointing although the character models, particularly when it comes to recognizable names like Howard Lederer, are nicely rendered. The backgrounds are unrealistic, unless they do hold special tournaments in dank cellars. The animations and character specific gestures are limited but they are a nice touch.

Sound: 6.0
The upbeat jazz music that plays throughout the game is not only repetitive but it also feels a bit out of place. It’s too bad the music drowns out the sounds of a busy casino and the occasional stifled coughs of fellow players. The commentator adds very little and the repetitive phrases each player spouts gets old fast.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
If you’re looking for a challenge this game has got it in spades. The opponent AI is sharp and can be good at bluffing. In high stakes games you will have to constantly take into consideration every move you make. The tell and bluffs are tricky to pull of successfully. Going up against tournament champions is not going to be easy.

Concept: 7.5
The poker tournament experience comes off nicely in this game and there are 14 different varieties of card games you will be playing. Player controllable bluffs and tells is a good idea that becomes rather annoying. There are mini-games that are offers plenty of tips, trivia and official poker terms to learn if you’re interested in the game. 

Multiplayer: 8.0
There is online support for up to eight players using Infrastructure mode and it plays without a problem. You can even play online against owners of World Championship 2 for the PS2. The great part is that there are exclusive online card games you can play.

Overall: 7.5
In the end, World Championship Poker 2 delivers a solid and challenging PSP game that fans of all things poker will gladly take along with them. With a single-player game that will not disappoint and a decent multiplayer mode, you cannot go wrong with this one.