Stacked Social

Cards are war in disguise of a sport.
—Charles Lamb

The funny thing about poker is that you need friends to play, but they're certainly not your friends while you're playing. It's no fun if they're too friendly. That's not what poker is about, and you know it. At the same time, the thought of gathering eight or so buddies together, setting aside some popcorn and soda, or beer and pretzels, and playing a hardy poker tournament gets your chips all in a tingle, I'm sure.

Stacked™ with Daniel Negreanu has a great single-player mode, but to step into the intense world of Texas Hold'em and feel all the stress and pressure of a real pro, you have to go online. I'm talking about Xbox Live®.

Do they look harmless to you?

Multiplayer on Xbox Live
Myelin Media, the publisher of Stacked, has great ideas for how to make poker on Xbox Live a game that no true poker lover can pass up. Myelin Media has established two types of online tables: the sanctioned and the unsanctioned.

For those of you who just want to grab a quick pick-up game with your old high school buddies who now live in Boston, Chicago, and across town, you can do so. No outsiders allowed—it's your table. You say who plays and who doesn't. On the other hand, if you feel more adventurous, open your table to others and even host a multitable tournament. It's still an unsanctioned event, but you can play with whomever you want.

The competition will be sharper than your
granny's mad look and much less forgiving.

Whether you're hosting an in-house co-op game or hosting your own unsanctioned game online, customize your private table: choose variables for each of the elements of the game, including Blinds, Limit/No-Limit, game mode, etc. This gives you a chance to try out different setups and test your skills as the variables change. You're limited to a maximum of nine players per table.

Stacked Masters Tournaments
Perhaps the most thrilling element of Stacked, and the one thing that sets it apart from other poker games, are the planned Masters Tournaments. Myelin Media plans to hold tournaments on Xbox Live. These sanctioned tournaments will have preset rules and variables.

Your toughest opponents will be here. Top poker pros, like Daniel Negreanu himself, will show up in Masters tournaments. Because actual pros are the only ones who can use their avatars online, you'll know immediately when you're playing against a real pro. Just how good are you? Or I should ask, how good can you get and how quickly?

These Masters Tournaments begin immediately following the arrival of the game in stores. The lower level ones occur daily, so you'll have plenty of chances to get into one. The trick is that you can't just sign up to play. Prove yourself worthy first, either by winning satellite tournaments or by earning enough points in other Stacked games (either private or public) to buy your way in. The exact numbers required haven't been announced, but the more points you have, the higher the level you can enter. Start building up that bankroll right from the get-go, kids!

Step up to the table of doom.

A Ring-a-Ding-Ding
Myelin Media has put some thought into how all this will work, and how to keep players competing and having fun. Players will have the ability to chat and text message one another during the game. If one of the celebrity players shows up, he or she will have a special skin designed just for them—a virtual replica of Daniel or Evelyn or Carlos Mortensen sitting there at your table. They even smile when they whomp you.

In addition, Myelin Media has created virtual Masters Tournament rings. If you win one of them in a Masters Tournament, it will appear on your character's finger from then on out. They've created them in six different styles, though it's unclear whether each style represents a different level of achievement or not.

If you've despaired of ever getting the chance to go to Las Vegas and buy into the World Series of Poker for ten grand, this is your chance to fulfill that fantasy, except there's nothing fantastic about this. The competition will be sharper than your granny's mad look and much less forgiving. If you make it to the top here, then you know you're not just good, you're a Master.

Article by Angel Leigh McCoy