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It's usually not much fun to play poker with fake money. Strategy disappears as players throw chips around with no restraint, knowing they can just click a button and make more magically appear.

Live Poker takes a novel approach to this problem. Aside from a small per diem and the bankroll you're given when you first join up, the chips don't come free--you earn them by inviting new players, participating in sponsored offers, or paying real money at the rate of up to 7,500 chips per dollar. (In fact, the only difference between this paid app and its free counterpart is that this one starts you off with 40,000 chips as opposed to the free version's 1,000.) This makes players a bit more careful with their chips than in similar online arenas, which makes for a more interesting and rewarding game.

By interfacing with the popular, cross-platform Texas Hold 'Em game that's tearing up Facebook and MySpace, Live Poker makes it easy to find open tables at any stakes. And once you sit down at a table, the game itself is generally clear and functional--if unexceptional--with a clean look, a straightforward interface, and helpful features like a vibrate option for when your turn comes around.

Sure, at times the interface can almost be too simple. For example, it would be helpful to see the all-in amount before your turn and more details on split pots and side pots. But considering that the game taps into such a huge and constant pool of players (nearly 90,000 as of this writing), "functional" will do just fine.