Poker Achievements
At A Glance
- Play your best and earn achievements along with buckets of prize money.
Xbox Live® means different things to different people. For some, it is a perpetually raging battlefield where the world's toughest cyber soldiers can test their reflexes in tournaments, matches, and events. For others, Xbox Live Marketplace is where it's at for music, videos, and game demo downloads.
Regardless of your leanings, there is one facet of the premiere online gaming service that can be used and enjoyed by all. That feature is the achievements system.
Every title published for Xbox 360™ has its own unique set of achievements laid out by the game's creators. Depending on the type of game, you can earn up to 1000 points towards your gamerscore through various feats of mastery. These accomplishments can vary greatly between genres.
Winning is everything.
Some of the more common ways to unlock an achievement are:
- Finish the single-player story mode
- Complete the game on the hardest difficulty level
- Play X amount of games, online or off
- Perform feats of mastery (three-pointers in basketball, headshots in first-person shooters, etc.)
- Find every collectible or secret
- Finish every optional side mission or quest
Ultimately, it's up to the developer to break down the total number of gamerscore points and assign them to different achievements for that game. As you pass each in-game milestone and accrue more points, you may unlock secret achievements that are only revealed to you when a required action is performed.
This element of mystery rewards players of a persistent and adventurous nature and encourages them to explore every nook and cranny laid out before them.
Join us as we take a look at some spoiler-free in-game achievements and explore the many gameplay possibilities ahead of you.
The challenge of professional poker is now in your
capable hands, and those achievements aren't going
to unlock themselves.
Professional Poker
What a thrill ride it must be to participate in a major poker tournament like the World Series of Poker®: Tournament of Champions. Imagine the casino. You enter with your entourage, following the red carpet. You start to hear your name being called out by the fans. They know you. They want you to win. You are about to take a seat with the biggest names in poker. Welcome to the big time.
Event Wins
You won't reach the top overnight. You'll start out by playing the professional circuit, playing at casinos like Harrah's Rincon Casino in San Diego, the Grand Casino Tunica in Mississippi, and Harrah's Rio Suites in New Orleans. This is your testing ground for the World Series. You can also unlock four achievements at each of the four circuit casinos.
In the Money
Poker has developed a vast vocabulary of slang terms. One of these is "in the money." If you finish a tournament in the money, it means you placed high enough to take home some prize money. Finish in the money at any of the four casinos and you will earn an achievement, for an available total of four. You don't have to take home the grand prize, or even make it to the final table, so long as you finish in the money.
You're in the big time now.
Final Table
In multi-table tournaments like the World Series of Poker, players compete for a seat at the final table. Tournament of Champsions rewards you with an achievement just for making it to the final table at each of the circuit events you compete in. If your goal is simply to stick it out and make it to the final table, play conservatively. Winning a seat at that table is not easy, but if you're focused on going the distance instead of clearing the most chips, you'll have an edge.
Poker Online
You can also take home some of the 30 achievements in World Series of Poker: Tournament of Champions by competing with other poker fans online. For example, if you rack up enough Tournament of Champions points to unlock the tournament itself, you get an achievement. The achievements encourage everything from playing a simple Sit & Go game with two or more opponents, to winning an online multi-table tournament that has three or more tables involved. The challenge of professional poker is now in your capable hands, and those achievements aren't going to unlock themselves.
Article by Angel Leigh McCoy
