Poker 2010 for Windows

Poker is more popular than ever, thanks to both interactive online games involving real poker players and good old video poker games that let you kill time while you sharpen your playing skills. Poker 2010 is the latter, a basic video poker game with a built-in slideshow to add some visual appeal. While you can install your own pictures, it comes with a "vintage" photo set featuring risqué black-and-white images from the 1950s that probably won't be to everyone's taste.

This poker game sports a colorful but low-resolution interface. Depictions of the various winning hands ring the central picture display, with the five-card display and basic controls along the bottom. There are Draw, View, and Exit buttons, and one labeled "Install Data Set," presumably for adding your own slideshow, although there's no Help file to explain how it's done, and clicking it calls up a dialog for saving files in the program's proprietary file format, .p2t. A control labeled "Have Fun" tries to open a nonexistent text file. The game is draw poker and is easy to play; simply deal your cards, click the ones you want to hold, draw your new cards, and the winning hand flashes on the interface. The pictures Poker 2010 displays are old-time burlesque-type images, some badly distorted, and most of which feature legendary photo model Bettie Page.

This poker game is free and offers a pleasant diversion. While it's not the most attractive piece of gameware we've tried, Bettie's pretty cute, and it does have the option of adding your own pictures.