Apple Folds Its Texas Hold ‘Em App

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Apple Folds Its Texas Hold ‘Em App

Apple Folds Its Texas Hold Em App

There was a time when you needed a wireless router to play online poker. If you were out and about, taking the bus home, or sneaking out of the office for break, there wasn’t a pocket-sized computer at your disposable for bluffing, calling, and raising. Apple changed all that with its 2006 Texas Hold’em which first premiered as a non-iOS iPod game and quickly grew in popularity as Apple’s only in-house game. Now, roughly six years later, it’s no longer available for purchase. Apple is removing one of their own apps from the App store, an old favorite no less, and the only game they ever developed on their own.

It’s more a symbolic death than anything. Apple has been outsourcing their game development to third party developers since 2008, when the App store launched and was an immediate success. Apple parlayed the success of the store into a brilliant business model that allowed them to focus their time and resources on beefing up their operating platform and developing the iPhone and iPad while companies like EA, Sega and Gameloft harvested their gaming crops for them. While Texas Hold’em was critical to proving the viability of the iOS as a gaming platform, Apple hadn’t updated the game since 2008 and it was only a matter of time before they folded the app’s cards for good.

If you’re a poker fanatic, don’t fret too much. There are plenty of other poker apps for your iPhone or Apple device. Zynga, in particular, has arisen as a primary poker app developer and in many ways their “Live Poker” game is better than Texas Hold’em for the iPhone. It has a more intuitive interface that resembles popular online poker sites like Full Tilt Poker; it offers the largest online gaming network for the iPhone; and it is Facebook integrated, which of course means you can access your digital hands directly through your social network.

You’re not playing for real money with Live Poker, nor were you with Texas Hold’em. For that you might want to check out Switch Poker, the first real money online poker game ( HTML 5-based) for the iPhone. Or, if you’re in the UK you can check out Bwin Poker.

Just because Apple has discontinued their patented Texas Hold’em doesn’t mean they won’t be rolling out a wide variety of gambling and poker apps. The rising popularity of both online poker and mobile devices use should ensure a steady stream of bets running through the iOS network.