Stanford Wong Video Poker

Stanford Wong Video Poker is an excellent poker game from Villa Crespo, master of card/casino games. Similar to Amarillo Slim, the game is capable of finding best play for any hand and payoff schedule of your choice, including joker and/or deuces wild. It does the calculations on the fly, and the in-game tutor is impressive. The calculation algorithm was coded based on real-life probability theories and statistics, with input from poker pro Stanford Wong.

Stanford Wong Video Poker is both a game and a tool for analyzing video poker. You have the option of standard playing cards or IGT casino video-poker cards, with or without animation. You can ask the program to tell you the best play on every hand, alert you whenever you misplay a hand, or sit quietly until you want advice on a hand. You also can use the game to run simulations to estimate payback.

One-person and two-person tournaments are supported, with the latter requiring both players to take turns on the same computer. The graphics is on the primitive side, but it is adequate, and the interface is easy to learn and use - this was one of the first casino programs to feature mouse support, a comprehensive on-line help, and the tutor feature.

If you enjoy video poker, Stanford Wong Video Poker is a landmark in the niche genre that deserves to be in your library. It has been superceded by Villa Crespo's later games, most notably Amarillo Slim Dealer's Choice, but it still remains a lot of fun and playable even today. Highly recommended!

Review By HOTUD