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No more!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 28 / 34
Date: January 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have purchased Hoyle card games in the past, but after this one, I done with them. I was unable to install this game properly using Windows XP. The suggestions the "techs" gave me were of no use and almost condensending.

Stay away from Hoyle Casino 2004!!!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 18
Date: February 10, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I really wish I had read the reviews here about Hoyle Casino 2004.

I bought the game this week, and did a full install on my laptop. I use my laptop for travel, so I expected to be able to play this game on the long flights.

Lo and behold I was shocked when I found out that I could not play the game without the CD inserted in the CD-Rom.

As a frequent traveller I find this unacceptable. I tend to lose CD's when I travel, or damage them due to the hectic packing and unpacking of my personal things. I tried to make a backup copy of the CD, and found out that I have to buy a program that will defeat the copyright protection like Alcohol 120% or CloneCD.

Even if I do spend the extra money and time to make a portable copy of the original so I don't lose it or break it, I will still kill the battery if I'm on a flight that lasts more than a couple of hours. The other solution is to make an image of the CD on my hard drive, and point the game to that. This would take up more precious space on my hard drive, when the game already took up 455 MB of space on my drive with the install already.

All in all I am very fed up with Hoyle and their disdain for paying customers. I don't want to be treated like a criminal, and I will boycott all future Hoyle products.

Stay away from this product!!!

CD must be in drive after full installation to play!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 23
Date: December 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Even after full installation of this game, the CD must be inserted in the drive to play it. I hope this new form of "corporate greed" backfires in a big way. Stay away, don't buy any Sierra Product!

Needing the CD is bad for a specific reason:

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 14 / 23
Date: August 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have heard a million reasons why inserting the CD is annoying or it could get lost etc - all of which are great reasons against requiring the CD in the drive. I always go back to consoles and think the PC has every right to require the same as the consoles. There is, however, a MAJOR thing that Hoyle/Sierra forgot and they are frankly dumb as dirt to forget this:

Who plays this game? I'd wager a very significant percentage of the purchasers are people like me that wanted the game for our LAPTOPS! I just bought a new tablet PC and would love to sit and play some simple games on the plane that don't require action or awesome CPU power and I can play while I fly or wait at the airport. I have truly abused the poor poker players on Hoyle Casino 2003 for this reason, yet never loaded it on my desktop (which plays Doom 3 quite well thank you) ;)

So, now Sierra lost me as a customer simply because I *cannot* play this game. I have no CD drive in my laptop. My other laptop I've been using has a CD drive but I take it out and replace it with a battery. Putting the drive in means I can't play the game cause it would suck my remaining battery dry. plus, other than for the game, I haven't travelled with a CD drive in years.

What a group of dummies running the marketing department at Sierra.

LCD 23" wide screen & Windows XP

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 13 / 20
Date: March 12, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Hoyle has always been my favorite games but ever since I bought the new state of the art Dell computer with windows XP, and a 23" LCD screen, Hoyle couln't take it. Only Hoyle games can't handle it as it creates lines accross the top of the screen, Bicycle games handle it perfectly. Please upgrade your program.

Hoyle's little money maker

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 11 / 15
Date: October 25, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Boardroom:

Suit A: How can we rake in lots of extra dollars from unsuspecting gamers?

Suit B: I Know, lets change the year and the box, throw in some different backgrounds and sell it.

Suit A: Brilliant! why did we not think of that last year?

Suit B: We did.

Suit A: Did we? OK lets roll with it.

Must have CD in drive to play game!

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 15
Date: December 31, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I purchased this and Hoyle Casino 2004 for my sons for Christmas and was very disappointed to see the CD must be in the drive to play this game, even after full installation. Corporate greed is alive and well at Sierra!!!

Loaded Dice

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: July 07, 2004
Author: Amazon User

The Hoyle board games appear to use loaded dice in order to manage the level of expertise. Alternatively, maybe they just have a really bad algorithm. You guys understand random number generation don't you? In any case, the games can be very frustrating because the AI opponent seems to get an ideal roll of the dice way more than logic or statistics would permit, and rolls sometimes repeat themselves over and over, especially doubles.

NEEDS ALOT OF IMPROVEMENT

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 5
Date: March 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When playing five card stud you may get 2 GOOD hands out of 28. Omaha Hold'em is just as bad........The computer players always seem to know when to fold........I will return mine and will not buy another one until improvements are made......wish I had checked online before purchasing!!!!!!!

Updated info since last post

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 30, 2004
Author: Amazon User

UPDATE 1-DON'T RUN FULL SCREEN:
You may be able to run other software simultaneously with this game, including WebCams, if the game is not played in its default FULL SCREEN mode. This must be initially set up without other software programs running. 1) Start Casino, then press OK on the SIGN IN screen. 2) These buttons will become available: FILE, GOTO, OPTIONS and HELP. 3) Select OPTIONS, then WINDOW. The program window will no longer appear in FULL SCREEN mode. The minimized window that it runs in cannot be scaled, or sized to any custom dimension. It's a little on the small side, but is usable. You are supposed to be able to switch between FULL SCREEN and WINDOW modes as needed, but any attempt to return to FULL SCREEN mode after this will likely cause the game to quit functioning.

UPDATE 1a-STARTUP TIME SAVER:
Skip by the 3 animated splash screens by pressing ESC as each one appears.

UPDATE 1b-NEW PLAYERS:
Be careful that when you're done using FACEMAKER that you choose SAVE, then ADD. If you elect to UPDATE, you'll lost a character you previously designed.

UPDATE 1c-DOWNLOAD VERSION UPGRADE:
Visit www.sierra.com's where there's a 3 MB upgrade to Version 1.1. It makes one bug fix as follows: "Version 1.1.0.0 fixes a bug in Roulette Tournaments that would skip even numbered rounds."

UPDATE 1d-GUARANTEE:
Sierra offers a "No Risk Guarantee." You can get your money back within 90-days of purchase, if you send the product to them. Retail stores won't accept software returns due to copyright issues.

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