written by Martin on May 7th, 2015
Five years ago, we began work on Bold Poker for iPad and iPhone.
After our first poker nights using the beta, we were
convinced. It made Texas hold 'em gameplay so much
more fun, allowing us to spend more time playing hands and less
time dealing cards.
In late 2012, we released the first public version of Bold Poker. This ran
on iPad and iPhone only (Android players were out of luck at this point).
In 2013, we built support for Android as well as the ability to play Omaha games.
We changed the pricing to allow players to download a free app. Only the host would have to buy the app on the iPad.
We have players using Bold Poker on a regular basis at their home games, but the app has so far failed to sustain itself as we believe it could. Here the app revenue from the last two and a half years:
One of the main issues we kept running into was with the interaction for the players' cards. The interaction was only ideal with mirrors underneath the players' phone.
We looked into ways of making and distributing custom made mirrors to players,
but ultimately decided it would not be worth it.
Last fall, we found a much better solution.
Bold Poker 3 introduces a new interface for the pocket cards that vastly improves the app:
Put the phone flat on the table. Pocket cards are shown
in front of you, face down.
To peek at the cards, cover up your phone's screen with one hand and slide
your finger down on the cards. This ensures only you will be able to see them.
Show your cards by sliding all the way down.
Fold by throwing them into the middle.
Click anywhere onto the iPhone’s screen to try out the interactions for yourself.
This interaction feels extremely natural. We worked hard to make everything feel as intuitive as possible, using physics-based animations throughout the app. It is so close to playing with real cards
that it seems obvious in hindsight.
There's really no alternative to trying it out yourself. We've made that easy.
You can download the free Bold Poker app and try out the interactions right from the welcome
screen without having to join a real game.
Or better yet: try it out at your next poker game.
Using Bold Poker is free. The only
limitation is a five-minute break every half hour.
Even with these breaks, you'll be able to play more hands in a night
compared with a normal regular of cards.
If you want to play without breaks, it's only $4.99 to unlock the whole table all night long (24 hours) for any number of players.
We hope you start dealing with it!
