You and your friends are all iPhone fiends who buy two new devices every generation. And you don’t sell them off at Craigslist either — you just put them in a shelf as if their value will appreciate some time down the line. Put all those iPhones to use with Bold Poker, easily one of the most unique iPhone card games in the App Store.
Designed to be played in person (yes, while you’re all gathered around in a real poker table), it requires a minimum of three iOS gadgets to play. One iPhone (or iPad or iPod Touch) each for two players and one to act as the dealer. Up to 12 players can participate at any one game.
Bold Poker starts with a deck of cards on the dealer’s phone. Push a button on the board phone and the cards will be dealt to everyone on the table, with their hands appearing right on their phones. From there, game goes on as usual — just make sure to designate someone in control of the dealer handset to avoid a mess of multiple people punching buttons at their own convenience. If you have tons of iPhones, you can assign each iPhone as one card, which should make your game a heck of a lot more interesting. And weird. And cumbersome. But fun.
Since the app takes care of the cards, there’s no shuffling or collecting cards involved. You can be sure no one cheats, too, since you can’t exactly hide a digital playing card up your sleeve. Oh, and since the app just takes care of the cards, you can play with the stacks of chips you have accumulated throughout the years — poker is always more fun when you’re battling over stacks of pretend casino chips, after all.
Currently, Bold Poker only supports Texas Hold ‘Em games, so if you’re into other games, you may want to hold off until they support it. It’s available now from the App Store, priced at $1.99.