Using a unheard of set of accoutrements, World Championship Poker (WCP) tries to distance itself from the rest of the pack and create a poker playing experience that has you playing the classic game, but with a gameplay that allows for luck, skill points, poker face stare-downs and even a pawn shop.  This could quite possibly be the most accurate poker game ever created for a gaming system.

As you start off, much like other poker games, you can either play a quick game or start a career. Starting a career will involve play both online and off. Playing in the offline games helps to hone your skills and get used to the flow of the game. It's a fairly standard setup of buttons telling you what to press for the simple actions involving poker.  Occasionally the game does something that initially took me by surprise, a quick little mini-game will pop up during those decisive situations like an "all-in" move and the game is challenging you to keep the correct face, so your opponent doesn't make the correct call. Basically this little slide bar pops up and there are several colors indicating green for a stone cold poker face, red for a bluff and yellow for a tell. You must control the arrow that is sliding up and down and try and stop it in the correct position. Now doing this opens up all sorts of possibilities during play. For one, you could purposely screw up and fake a tell if you were sitting on a great hand.  Likewise, you could hit the stone-cold bluff section when holding absolutely nothing, it is a unique idea that makes the game more accurate as far as a video game goes.

 
"Uhhhhhh..." 

Now as you play you will see the point of the game is to get money, a lot of money. Doing so will allow you to travel to other card rooms and more importantly find those private and side games. Private games are the easiest way to make some much needed cash, as they are pretty much straight money games, meaning you can hop in, play some hands and get out when you are up. You can also play in the side games, which is a slightly rougher style of play and that you will need to really be on top of your game. And even more, there are some special heads-up games that you can find where you play against one of the featured pro players, one on one (that's what heads-up means). Playing in these side games is an excellent way to discover some of the hidden things that are featured in the game.

The neat thing about this title is that it is somewhat like an RPG poker game. If you think of the matches and tournaments as quests you will see the correlation. You must play well in order to build up your character's skill points. Once built up, you can spend them on one of many attributes you possess, such as the following:

"Big Rick gets a Big Slick."

WCP actually has some fun and interesting graphics to go along with the snazzy audio work. The intro screen and loading screens are rife with pro players giving you tips on how to play whether in real life or in the game and they are done in an animated way that I can't quite describe, it's almost a caricature version of the players with their oversized heads and wacky clothes. It looks really sharp and if it wasn't so smooth looking I wouldn't mention it. Also, the in-game action does a good job of portraying a slick-looking table game with sharp-dressed pros and wannabe pros all sitting around the table. I don't know if I like the dances some of the characters do when they win a big hand, but if any of you have seen real poker on TV, then you'll know there is an awful lot of people acting in ways that aren't very professional. If anything, the game could use a little more snap in the character creator section, as it is a bit more cumbersome then I like, but hey, with all those options I'm sure some players out there will love it.

The game also has a pseudo map to help decide which poker events you want to play in and they in turn, are tied in with the games calendar. Playing in one event may make it so you cannot play in another because they share the same time frame. So as you play, you will want to manage your calendar so you can hit the games best suited for you at the time and still make your way as a professional poker player. And as most Pros will tell you, it all starts at the bottom, living in a cruddy apartment trying to make your way in the lower games.

"Uhhh, you might want to raise here."

The upbeat tempo that's part techno and part jazz is a welcome change to the more then repetitive music that other poker games seem to feature as of late. I like the fun snazziness of it and could really get behind the beat. However, the music slows down once you get rolling and a more subdued accompaniment kicks in to match the slower, moremethodical pace of the game. The snap of the cards and the game's chips being splashed in the pot also sound really good, I recommend using the headphones as the game just really pops with them in use.

The online portion of the game is as much fun as the single game. You can play ad-hoc, or with the use of your wireless router, get online and go find some real games. But be warned, you will really need to get the single-player experience down pat because the online competition is pretty tough. It's fairly easy to log onto and find games, but whew, there is some good competition out there.

Gameplay: 8.0
It's easy enough to get a hold of even if the mini-game is a little rough to begin with. The game really is like an RPG;the maps, the skills, the challenges, the hidden treasures, the upgrades, it's pretty cool.

Graphics: 8.2
The caricature shots are great, the in-game graphics are what I expected and the navigatable map is something straight out of a RPG with icons for points of interest. This does and does not look like a poker game.

Sound: 8.3
Upbeat, positive, I liked it, the game lacks voice work but doesn't skip a beat when it comes to the music.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
It's always hard to score a game that features a strong multiplayer experience, but the game does provide a good challenge even for the most seasoned poker player.

Concept: 8.5
Again, this is a poker RPG, it's got some real innovations in the game and will take possibly weeks to beat, which of course any good poker player will tell you, you never beat the game of poker, you only survive it.

Multiplayer: 8.0
I have played against my neighbor in a few games, he's up five to three, but he's playing to win always; I'm playing for the experience (for reviewing sake), at least that's what I'm telling him.

Overall: 8.2
A well-rounded poker game on the PSP; what sets it apart is it's uniqueness. Sure there are only a few different poker games (five) but it's the journey in this case, not just the destination.