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The year has been quite an eventful one for gamblers who use iPhones. Recently, Apple released some new guidelines pertaining to the development of native apps by gambling operators. As expected, this has had a huge impact on how gamers access their favorite casino games especially as companies adjust so as to be in compliance with the new policy.

This month, the company announced something else. Apple’s Texas Hold’em has made its return to the App Store after being absent from the popular platform for almost a decade. Version 2.0 of the game was released on the App Store in early July and it comes with a number of impressive improvements that will certainly appeal to even the most nostalgic of poker players.

“Apple’s Texas Hold’em is back! To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the App Store, we’ve brought back one of its first games, a popular classic. Originally created for iPod, then brought to iPhone, fans will love the polished redesign, featuring new characters, more challenging gameplay, and stunning graphics for the newest iPhone and iPod touch,” reads the app’s release notes.

Texas Hold’em was initially available on the iPod back in 2006 but later in 2008, the company availed it to iPhone users through the Apple App Store. It was the very first game to be sold on the App Store when it was published on July 6, 2018. Unfortunately, the fans of the game only got one update after which the app was left alone. That is, until now.

What Is New?

The game essentially allowed iPhone users to play against the computer but they could also play against a total of eight friends (nine in total) over WiFi. All of the players were required to be on the same WiFi network and had to bee running the same app on their iPhones as well.

Texas Hold’em version 2.0 retains some of the best features of the original game but still packs a plethora of improvements that will get die-hard fans very excited. The game includes 10 poker venues and players move onto the next venues when they win. The game is available for offline gameplay but multiplayer gaming is still allowed. In addition to that, players will have the option of either a first-person or top-down view as well the choice to pull up hints, stats, and even other players’ ratings. To top it all off, this time, the game will be free to play.

It is anticipated that Apple’s Texas Hold’em will probably be part of the game portfolio that will be availed when Apple Arcade goes live. Apple Arcade is the company’s recently-announced game subscription-based game service.