Next Wednesday (August 23), Texas Hold 'em will be made available on Xbox Live Arcade. How many Microsoft Points will it cost? None. Not one cent. But this offer will only last for 48 hours. After that you'll have to drop 800 MS Points for the same game. This downloadable version of Texas Hold 'em includes multiplayer support for up to eight people and three different gameplay modes. Standard games, scenarios and tournaments should fulfill all your fantasy poker-playing needs. As is par for Xbox Live Arcade games, Texas Hold 'em supports Achievements, online leaderboards and HD graphics.
While you can't play for real money, Microsoft has devised a system to keep you from being too careless and going all in on every hand. Players will have a Persistent Bankroll. This virtual bankroll is tied to your Gamertag. The game will keep track of how many chips you have, and if you get too reckless or just hit a patch of rotten luck and lose all your chips, you'll be forced to play in low-stakes games until you recover enough of your losses to play with the big boys again. Texas Hold 'em will be ready for download on Xbox Live Arcade at 1 a.m. Pacific time next Wednesday.
