Gameplay
Even though the game's licensee is more known specifically for card games , Bicycle Casino is a fairly complete gambling simulator. If cards are your thing, then choose your poison. Gamers can play Texas Hold 'Em, Omaha, Omaha High-Low, 7 card Stud, Razz, 7 card High-Low, 5 Card Draw, and Lowball. In addition to all of the popular card games, Bicycle Casino also features roulette, craps, keno, slots, video poker, and even the money wheel. Each game type has numerous modes, bringing the total number of game variations to five hundred. For example, video poker players can play Hang Ten machines (or two other types) of seven different denominations, or slot players can choose traditional, video, and multi-payline slots in various denominations. Games such as Blackjack and Pai Gow can be played straight-up, at a no-limit table, or in a tournament fashion (the winner after twenty hands at each table wins the prize money).
Gamers will first have to create a player profile and character before they can caress the speed felt. The create-a-gambler is quite a bit less involved than say, the creation of a golfer in Tiger Woods . In fact, you will only be able to change about nine different aspects of your gambler, but it is worth noting that the stove top hat is an available accessory for all of those gamers who did the Honest Abe look. What I'm trying to say in a round-about sort of way is that the create-a-gambler isn't that engaging, and even if it were, the graphics aren't strong enough to showcase all of your hard work. I did get a chuckle out of the manual which tells gamers exactly what to do when they get to the proboscis category: "pick your nose".
 The rest of Bicycle Casino is choosing the game you want to play from the menu screen and getting in there and playing. There isn't a career gambler mode of any type, but player do start out with a $1000 bank roll that grows or dwindles depending if lady luck is on your side. The house will always ask you if you need more money to continue, so there's little skill involved with budgeting your funds. Some of the bigger tournaments have large entry fees that will need a string of wins in order to have enough money to enter. Other than some entry fees, gamers play Bicycle Casino offline in an open-ended fashion, just as someone might jump on the computer and bust a few games of Solitaire out to pass the time.
Bicycle Casino not only includes detailed instructions of each game in the manual, but gamers can also access the instructions for each game from the pause menu. There are also hints for each game which will come in handy when it's your first few times playing a confusing game such as craps or Pai Gow. The game's interface for card games makes things much easier on rookies, since it shows all pertinent information on overlays for each player. For example, an overlay for Hold 'Em poker will tell which player has the big blind and small blind bets in, who has called, folded, or raised, and whose turn it is to bet. A player's overall chip count will also be displayed, along with the pot and raise amounts. The player who is up will have a solid overlay, whereas players patiently their turns will show translucent overlays. In craps, translucent overlays will show the various bets and their payouts when the cursor is moved around the table. Another overlay shows who bet what portion of the board and for how much loot.
The real ace-in-the-hole for Bicycle Casino is Voice Chat-enabled online play which really adds a bit of real casino spice to the mixture. The standard Quick Match and OptiMatch features are included, along with the ability to create your own high-stakes contest. Hustlers who choose to host will be able to choose if the match is of tournament type (with an entry fee) or standard type (with table limits), if the session is public or private, if there are computer players allowed, and the skill levels of the players. Hosts can choose any of Bicycle Casino's poker games, plus Blackjack, Money Wheel, Pai Gow Poker, Craps, and Roulette. Scoreboards are kept, and contain some detailed statistics such as ratio of hands played to hands won, number of hands won in a row, and largest net payout per spin in Roulette. Bot players will constantly fill seats when players cash out, or if they lose connection, so there are always full games. There's also a Friends list which will let you know when its time for a little Big Team Battle.
Overall Gameplay Impressions:
Bicycle Casino includes about every game that a big-timer gambler could want, but this still isn't enough to make me want to cancel my Vegas trip next year. Besides from the obvious fact that you don't actually win any money if you "win", you will also realizes quickly that play money is easier to part with mentally. Since there are no consequences to losing your virtual bankroll, there's a good chance that your style of play will be different in the games that actually take some skill when betting or playing. Playing Money Wheel or the slots is a bit more boring since there is little skill to these types of games. The different slots are cool to look at, but when it finally sinks in that you don't actually take home your bank, the whole experience is a little depressing.
Things get a bit more fun online since you end up playing a mixture of voice-enabled humans and stingy bot players. The AI is pretty decent but a little on the passive side. Human players provide the comic relief with typical casino banter, and other interesting forms of conversation (not as much smack talking as Halo 2), and the game types keep it fun for at least a little while. The luster wears off quickly when you realize that games of chance without the monetary payoff unexciting. It's also hard to enjoy the feature game Texas Hold 'Em when there's really no way in reading another player, especially if they decide not to use the Communicator. However, if you still like the concept of gambling and could care less if your reward can buy you groceries or not, then you'll probably like the diversity of games in Bicycle Casino.
The Bottom Line
Bicycle Casino isn't up to current Xbox software standards, but it does offer online play, mediocre network code, and is also an exclusive on our beloved system. The graphics and audio are hurting, but at least you can strike up some interesting conversations through Live. Bicycle Casino must also get the benefit of the doubt since it is a budget title aiming at a very specific audience. If you're a poor gambler (the majority are.the casinos are the ones with the loot) then go out and buy Bicycle Casino - you fit Activision's core demographic perfectly.
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