Texas Hold 'Em will be free

By Tom Bramwell Published 16 August, 2006

For 48 hours. New XBLA dates.

They may have kept us waiting as long as possible, but there's good news for those of you holding out for news about Microsoft's ongoing plans for Xbox Live Arcade: Texas Hold 'Em poker will be free after all, albeit for just 48 hours.

Due out on August 23rd after all, the complete poker title will be available for free until 8am GMT on the 25th, after which it will be split between a trial version and an 800 Microsoft point full version.

Following Texas Hold 'Em, Microsoft's sticking to its plan to try and have something new for Live Arcade once a week, with a pair of Konami titles, Time Pilot (August 30, 400 points) and Scramble (September 6, 400 points), set to join the line-up.

In the meantime, those of you hooking yourselves up to Live today can download a Cloning Clyde picture pack for 100 points, if you really must.

Relatively good news then, although keen-eyed observers will be asking what happened to the schedule supposedly released by Microsoft to the Official Xbox Magazine in the UK, which had everything above happening a week earlier and Lumines Live sliding into the September 6 slot.

As it stands, we don't know what's happening with Lumines Live - and if today's news is anything to go by, may not know for certain until as late as September 13th - but with any luck it's not too far away.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (17) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Nostromo13 #1 6 years ago

    i guess the moral of the story is to get it within the first 48 hours.

  • Eighthours #2 6 years ago

    Good stuff. I'm loking forward to this one, poker nut as I am, particularly the continual bank balance stuff.

  • S.J.Rogers #3 6 years ago

    Der..!

  • Furbs #4 6 years ago

    800 points? For poker?! PMSL.

    RE. The free thing...is it definitely "free" free, or can you just use the features of the full version for 48 hours?

    Edit 2: To answer my own question, from Major Nelsons blog its proper proper free forever. Good good.
    Edited by 2 at 16/08/06 @ 12:11

  • gizmo #5 6 years ago

    I believe its totally free IF you grab it in the first 48 hours.

    Isn't it great that I'll be on holiday?

  • IMO #6 6 years ago

    Xbox Live servers are gonna go into meltdown

  • Retroid #7 6 years ago

    I don't paticularily care about poker but I like free stuff! \o/

  • Jonathan_Fakenham #8 6 years ago

    I still don't get how the money issue handled with this game.
    I believe it's not playing for cash, but some kind of "virtual cash pile"?
    Edited by 1 at 16/08/06 @ 12:57

  • king_skins #9 6 years ago

    "I still don't get how the money issue handled with this game.
    I believe it's not playing for cash, but some kind of "virtual cash pile"? "

    Yep you have to try and accumulate a "bank roll", the larger your bank role the bigger and better tournaments you are allowed to take part in. The bank role is persistent.

  • smoison #10 6 years ago

    There are dozens of FREE Poker Texas Hold 'Em games on PC online with thousnads of people playing all the time, why pay for this?

  • king_skins #11 6 years ago

    well you don't have to if you buy it in the first 48hrs.

    some general quick reasons for ya since you asked:
    1. you can play it in your living room;
    2. you can play it with your live friends;
    3. you can talk to the people you're playing against and possibly see them with the camera;
    4. easier to use and setup games with your mates over live;

    there maybe more... but i haven't played it so...


  • Retroid #12 6 years ago

    I play the PC online games with my Dead friends

    ...

    (o/

  • riz23 #13 6 years ago

    Me and my Live mates will be playing for real money. Just decide what the stake is before you play, then next day at work you cough up. That's the principle at least.

  • dllord #14 6 years ago

    Playing for M$ points would be cool!

  • effinwooly #15 6 years ago

    where the bitchin sony fanboys ?

  • DrDamn #16 6 years ago

    @smoison
    The persistent bankroll is a very important factor to why this will work better than free PC versions. With this structure tied to your gametag you should see a lot less of the constant all-in stuff you see in free PC games.

    See other discussions and articles on EG for info on how this will work. There will be benefits for getting a larger bankroll such as tournaments with high entry fees but bigger rewards etc.

    As with other live arcade games where there is a free PC equivalent you get the whole integrated package with your friends lists, high-score tables, convenience, achievements etc.

  • mike_mgoblue #17 6 years ago

    On August 21, 2006, many of the major videogame websites were saying that Devil May Cry 4 will be appearing on the Xbox 360 due to the fact that Dead Rising for the Xbox 360 has experienced such high sales, which were even higher than expected. Capcom originally thought that Dead Rising would sell approximately 600,000 copies; however, they have now raised that projection to over one-million copies sold to consumers. This means that the brand new intellectual property, Dead Rising, will have outsold "sequel" games like Resident Evil 4 on the Playstation 2 and Gamecube. As a result, Capcom of America has made it clear to Capcom of Japan that they want Devil May Cry 4 to be released on the Xbox 360. Here are some major websites that make this clear:

    next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_con tent&task=view&id=3658&Itemid=2

    neoga f.com/forum/showthread.php?t=115489

    gamersreports.com /news/3521/

    The business management staff of Capcom is doing the right thing by making the decision to release games like Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360. There is a much larger market of consumers with the Xbox 360; it would be a TERRIBLE business decision to avoid releasing a game like Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360, especially when the sales for games like Dead Rising are exceeding expectations by such a large margin. I can't wait to play Devil May Cry 4 for the Xbox 360!!!

    I agree with Capcom and Microsoft about how it is a good idea it was to release new Intellectual Property games for the Xbox 360 rather than just sequels like on the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 is the most costly development environment ever; it takes a LOT of time, money, and effort to release games for the Playstation 3. Releasing a new form of Intellectual Property game for the Playstation 3 would be a BIG financial RISK that could cause a LOT of money to be lost by videogame developers and publishers.

    But the Xbox 360 is much easier to develop games for, and the high sales of Dead Rising and so many other Xbox 360 games clearly shows that the Xbox 360 is a financial OPPORTUNITY that could cause a LOT of money to be gained for videogame developers and publishers. Games developed on the Xbox 360 cost less to make, and developers enjoy experimenting with new games like Dead Rising and Lost Planet on the Xbox 360.

    Plus, when developers release games exclusively for the Xbox 360, Microsoft charges virtually no licensing or royalty fees...unlike Sony. This is the reason why the Xbox 360 is seeing all sorts of excellent new games like Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Crackdown, Mass Effect, Gears of War, Saints Row, Kameo: Elements of Power, Enchanted Arms, Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Bullet Witch, Alan Wake, Shadowrun, and many others. Playstation 3 suffers from sequalitas, with games like Ridge Racer 7, Tekken 6, and so on.

    The thought of being able to play Dead Rising, Lost Planet, Resident Evil 5, and Devil May Cry 4 all on the same system makes me VERY happy I bought an Xbox 360! Keep up the good work Microsoft and keep up the good work Capcom!!!