Activision has quickly become the company to beat with its World Series of Poker franchise. In a few short years, it's gone from a lackluster title to a game that almost encapsulated the gambling experience perfectly. Building on the strengths of last year's title, Activision and Left Field Productions have recently released World Series of Poker 2008: Battle For the Bracelets. Thanks to a slicker presentation, larger sense of WSOP Tournaments and some additional features, Activision has once again produced one of the best poker games on the market.

The main career mode has a different twist on this year's play. As the fresh face on the WSOP block, players are no longer being taken underneath the wing of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson like they were in last year's game. Instead, you join the tour along one of three difficulty levels: amateur, semi-professional or professionally ranked player, which determines the number of events that you can enter and your starting bankroll. Of course, the object of the career mode is to expand your starting stack with prize money that you win in tournaments, but the other end of it is to gain additional Player of the Year points by performing well in tournaments to end your season with the overall Player of the Year award. Considering that means that you'll need to knock off Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth, that could be a tall order for some beginners, but it's an interesting challenge to extend to people.
 

Become the poker shark you always wanted to be.