I have been looking for a Poker game for my XBox 360 for a while, and while browsing the shelves at Blockbuster, this one caught my eye. So I rented it. I want my $7 back.

There's only one thing really important when it comes to a poker video game: that it plays poker well. All of the other considerations, such as interface design, come second.

On the sole criteria of "playing poker well", World Championship Poker: All-In featuring Howard Lederer and his sister Annie Duke on the cover, ranks an "F" - it fails by a long shot. If I were Annie Duke, I would be suing to take my picture off the cover cause it ruins her good name.

How bad can it be? Here are some examples:

* Playing in career mode, I sat down at a 5-card stud game. When my pair of Aces was beaten by 3-Queens the first time, I thought I was fairly beat. When it happened again 3 hands later (trip Queens over my two Aces), I cursed my bad luck. When it happened AGAIN 3 hands after that (huh? trip Queens again?), I started to get suspicious. And when I was dealt two aces AGAIN 3 hands after that, I folded them.

THE STUPID GAME DEALS THE SAME CARDS OVER AND OVER! This happened a few times, where I remember getting a pair of eights, drawing 3 cards, and getting two pair aces and eights. Happened a few hands later. Happened again a few hands after that. Getting random numbers right is FUNDAMENTAL to a poker game. Not this one.

* Playing in a tournament (100 player, multi-table). The opponents "go all in" almost every hand, or as a minimum "raise big". All-in. All-in. Raise $400 (blinds are $25/$50). All-in. It gets tiring. Finally I catch pocket Aces, and I call. Opponent catches a straight and I'm out.

Next tourney. Same thing - computer goes all-in every hand. Finally I catch A-K suited and I call. Opponent catches a straight and I'm out.

Next tourney. Same thing - computer goes all-in every hand. This time I keep folding, waiting for the all-in players to be busted out. Smart guy right? No. As soon as my table is broken up, I lose the very next hand. I didn't even get a chance to fold or call or even see my cards. And I am out of the tourney. Must have been a programming bug.

This game is seriously broken.