zynga.com (Poker)

Zynga Poker


After many months of badgering me to join Facebook, I decided to give it a go – why not? Most people were on there these days, and sure enough, soon I was hooked. After a while, though, the novelty started to wear off…that is until I was sent an invitation via Facebook to go to Zynga Poker, an application run both through Facebook itself and also as a stand alone site.

I hadn’t a clue how to play poker, ...
...for me, though I was at a loose end and decided to try. Of course, I started loosing all my chips (luckily they are free game chips!) but soon I began to pick up the game (and it helped when I actually did the sensible thing and read the instructions!) and not long after that, I was hooked.


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POKER
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I wont give you a full in and out run down of the game as this is a review of the site rather ... more

Zynga Poker

After many months of badgering me to join Facebook, I decided to give it a go – why not? Most people were on there these days, and sure enough, soon I was hooked. After a while, though, the novelty started to wear off…that is until I was sent an invitation via Facebook to go to Zynga Poker, an application run both through Facebook itself and also as a stand alone site.

I hadn’t a clue how to play poker, although I liked card games, poker was a little advanced for me, though I was at a loose end and decided to try. Of course, I started loosing all my chips (luckily they are free game chips!) but soon I began to pick up the game (and it helped when I actually did the sensible thing and read the instructions!) and not long after that, I was hooked.

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POKER
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I wont give you a full in and out run down of the game as this is a review of the site rather than what hand beats what and how to loose your chips fast review, though let me introduce the basic idea of poker for those who, like me, were or are still beginners in this card game.

It is unknown when the game of poker originated though it is thought to have started back in the 15th century in Germany though there are no real recordings of its origin. Much much later in the 1970’s, it grew vastly in population and various tournaments occurred all around the world with the full 52 cards of a deck opposed to the original 20 cards it was believed to have been played with.

There are many different variants of the traditional poker game, and I wont go into detail here as it does not apply to the site as Zynga poker plays a Texas HoldEm style poker. Here the computerized dealer deals the cards with a number of people (changing each time) having their chips put down as blind bets. No player can se another players cards though table cards can all be seen. Rounds with then go around the table with players betting on their hands which include two they se themselves and five which are laid on the table in a 3-1-1 sequence. At the end of each betting round, the bets will be put into a pool in the center of the table. Players can choose to call the bets, raise, or fold. The player with the best hand at the end will win the pot.

Simple – well now I know how to play it is anyway!

So with that sorted (I hope!) let me move onto what this review is all about – Zynga Poker Site.

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ZYNGA TEXAS HOLDEM
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Zynga Poker can be accessed via facebook applications or via the main Zynga site;
http://www.zynga.com/games/index.php?game=texasholdem
I believe it can also be accessed or at least linked through myspace and other social networks though as I don’t belong to any other social community except facebook, I can not comment fully on this.

However you get to Zynga Poker, though, it is exactly the same. With Facebook, though, there is no need to sign up – you just have to allow it to link with your facebook and it will take your name and profile picture for your poker profile. Unfortunately there is no way to hide your real name or profile picture if you access it through this way (I have tried) though don’t worry, no one can see your actual Facebook profile, only your name and image. A little annoying, though, I feel as I would have rather gone on there with an alias name as you are playing against many other people and often I have a photo of my daughter in the profile image and don’t like to change it every time I go on there. If you do feel totally against this then I suggest you access the site via zynga.com.

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LAYOUT
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Zynga Poker is constantly updating and changing its features and looks so I am going to take you through how things are at the moment. If you go to the site a while after this review is written, then it may have changed certain features.

On entering the site you are greeted by a clear three quarter sized screen in bold yet calm blue and white colours – not at all in your face, though rather smart looking. At the top is the Zynga Poker logo next to how many of your Facebook or other social network friends are online (you are also able to see who is in poker on the right side of the screen and opt to join their game if they are playing casual poker and not a tournament). Also at the top you are now able to see what level you are. This is a new feature brought in at time of writing this review where the more you play and win – the more experience yo gain to go up in levels. This, if nothing else, has made Zynga poker even more addictive. At the bottom of the screen you are able to see an interactive table of your friends and poker buddies to see who has what amount of chips and whether or not you are top. This takes a few minutes to load though I never usually have a problem viewing this, or sending gifts via this way (which can be done simply by clicking on the persons name or picture).
One of the most important things is your chip amount which is clearly seen next to your profile image near the top just above the game window.

The game window in the home screen is about a quarter of the size of the site though don’t worry, once in a game it goes to full screen in the same window. There are three tabs on this window to promote the different aspects and types of games you are able to play here (See below for more details). These include Hold’em, Tournaments and VIP Tables.

When you enter into a game, you are greeted by a oval table with spaces to sit around (usually up to 9 players). The colour of the surround and the table look itself depends upon what game you have entered or what round of a tournament you are on. The background is usually quite basic though certainly not boring and many tables look as though they are in a real casino with stairs leading to them. Colours in game are perfect to the sight and it is easy to see the action on the tables. Each persons profile and name accompanies them as they sit on a table. It all depends on what sort of game you are in as to whether you are allocated a seat automatically or whether you can choose your seat.

When in a game you are able to click on a persons profile to see their details of gameplay and request buddy invitation which is sent straight away. The information at the top of the home page is still visible above the game and other links sit in a row to the left of the table. These include;

Gift shop – Here you are able to go and buy a gift, whether it be food,, drink or entertainment. You have a choice whether to buy for yourself only, all your buddies or all at the table. The gift then sits visible to others next to you at a game table for a certain length of time. You use your game chips to buy these gifts and personally some can be quite entertaining though they do not last long at all.

Profile – Here you are able to see your in depth poker profile.

Buddies – Here you can see a list of your buddies and their profiles

Get Chips and Earn Chips – This allows you to either pay real money for chips (which personally I don’t see the point as if you want to pay real money – wouldn’t you want to win real money too!?) and also earn money through completing certain surveys and sign ups for sponsor sites.

At the bottom of the table there are three sections. In the center you will have your fold, call, check and raise buttons – some of which you can select before your turn if you need to leave the table which comes in quite handy except if you select ‘check/raise’ and someone raises to a million chips and that’s you out of the game! On the left hand side is a white window with a run down of what is happening in the game, what each person calls and winners etc. The opposite side is a similar white window chat box which works without many problems and is actually quite fast moving.

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THE GAMES
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There are three main tabs showing three main different selections of games.

Hold’em

On this tab you will find the casual games of poker where you can enter and leave when you like. The game window shows many different tables to choose from, all with different blinds (starting bets). You are also able to see who is on each table in a small window below before entering so if you are avoiding someone then that is a good idea, though this doesn’t refresh very often and most of the time I find that it is very behind on updating who is on each table so really I don’t take much notice of this. If you click on a table it only takes a few seconds to take you to the table and you are able to both select where you sit and also how much you take into the game as long as it is between the minimum and maximum per table (the maximum is more the higher blind table you play at). You are also able to select play game at top of game window which will automatically take you to a table though you may end up on too high a bet for your liking this way and it also places you automatically both in your seat and with your chips so I much prefer the other way.

I became quite addicted to this casual poker tables at first though soon after I was introduced to the tournament tables and now rarely play at the tables mentioned above as I feel there really isn’t anything to play for.

Tournaments

There are three main tournaments within this tab;

Shootout
This is probably one of my favorite parts of Zynga poker. It is extremely addictive though be careful as many people throw away the whole lot on the first hand!
In shootout the rule of the game is be the last person on the table to go onto the next round. Basically everyone is given 1000 chips (entrance to this tournament is 2000 chips) and you need to win hands from others and knock the rest out. £rd, 2nd and 1st place of each table gets a bonus prize of chips, which grows significantly through the rounds. There are three rounds with 500,000 chips for 1st place on the 3rd table (I have only reached this once). Every now and again a real prize is offered to those who get to 1st place on that 3rd table. Your name is then put into a pool and is randomly drawn to play a 4th table. The winner of this table wins a real prize – the tournament where I got that far offered a trip to Hawaii for two people. Unfortunately I didn’t get picked to try my luck at that fourth table.

Sit and Go
The game window looks rather like the casual play game window where you are able to pick a table and blind. This tournament in my opinion is rather boring. It is simply the same as a casual game mixed with a round of shootout where you need to be the last standing though the win in chips you get is nothing compared to shootout so I much rather play shootout.

Weekly Tournament
A new weekly tournament begins every Monday. You are given 1100 chips to start you off with another 100 per day (as long as you don’t get knocked out!). All you have to do is stay in the game and keep upping your pocket with chips. Those in the top 10% at the end of the week get a share of the huge pot. I have reached 70,000 before then stupidly lost it all so have never got into that last 10%. Very addictive though.

If you get knocked out of the weekly tournament you can not re-enter unless you pay real cash to buy back in which I don’t see the point as you don’t win real money.

VIP Tables
I can not unfortunately comment on these tables as I have never been on there as to get onto these tables you wither need to cash in 1 million chips and I haven’t got that far yet or pay actual money to buy yur way in. Not worth it to be honest though that’s just my opinion.

Throughout playing games you are able to win awards which come with chips. There are 64 awards to date of writing this and recently they have been separated into sections of bronze silver gold and platinum which to be honest added nothing more than when they were all together in one group. Also as mentioned before, you go up levels by gaining experience for playing hands and winning hands. I believe there are about 50 odd levels so this makes it more addictive!

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LINKS AND NAVIGATION
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Like many sites, this site does have its server downtimes though I go on it quite regularly (I am addicted!) and the downtimes are very few and far between I am pleased to say. The games themselves do seem to take a lot of memory up when playing and I find that opening too many tabs or windows to other sites does tend to slow the game (and other sites) down and occasionally freeze which is annoying as often I like to play poker in the background whilst doing other things as it has a handy sound played when it is your turn to play a hand. The site itself runs quite fast, in game I have no problems except when opening other tabs as mentioned above, and flicking between links usually changes in seconds. The main load into the game site takes at most 30 seconds so no problems here at all.

The links themselves all work absolutely fine though if you have been on there a while and sitting in the lobby or have been knocked out of a tournament occasionally it takes a while to get a link working though this is very occasional.

Navigation around the site is simple and straight forward even for internet newbies!

Overall the whole workings of the site is nothing to complain about except the few things I have mentioned above.

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FINAL WORD
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I love this site! There are many real play poker sites out there though if you just want to play for fun then I totally recommend this site. Yes, it has a few glitches though many sites do especially as it is always very busy with loads of people playing, though even with the amount of people on the different servers, the site works fast and the games are very addictive and they keep making it better.
 

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