Poker Sharks is an online poker game where players sign up and take control of their very own Poker Shark. They then play a combination of smaller games to build up their shark’s poker skills to try and climb as high up the rankings as possible. The game is played in real time so each day your shark age by one day for 100 days until they grow from a young baby shark into a wise old Poker Shark.

Each day players login and play various games, feed their sharks, home them, buy them toys or get them a job to increase their individual score in a bid to climb up the shark rankings. The newest addition to the site is the poker room where players can gamble their in-game chips against one another in live Sit-and-Go and Tournament tables.

The game was created by Gareth Stephens (AKA Lynx) and began in September 2005 and is played over a 100 day Season. The new season just started and Lynx is trying to drum up buzz for the game with this ReviewMe review. At the the end season, a winner is announced. There is no prize money (only bragging rights), and no real money every changes hands. The game is entirely for fun. Poker Sharks is suitable for all ages and people of all backgrounds. Winning the play money does help your shark. You can use the winnings to buy your shark a comfortable life.

Meet Dot Chow - She Will Grow Up To Be A Great White Poker Shark

Setting up a free account at Poker Sharks is extremely easy. You’ll need to sign up, then choose and name your shark. There are eight types of sharks to choose from, each having different ability levels at certain poker skills. The different percentages gained or lost in each poker skill all come into play when calculating challenges and tournaments so pick your opponents wisely. I choose a white shark because it’s most like me - very aggressive and isn’t bad at poker move Check-Raise. However, patience isn’t one of her virtues!

The main Poker Shark screen is confusing at first. I think Lynx should work on cleaning up the interface a bit. Fortunately, there is a good Poker Sharks Tutorial for first time shark trainers. There is also a Poker Sharks blog and forum.

Show Me The Chips!

Every shark starts off with 1000 chips. So far I’ve spent 10 chips to buy my shark some bread and water (I was too cheap to get her Algae soup) and 100 chips to buy a how to play poker book. Right now, my shark is working as a chip washer for 1000 chips per day. I failed to get her the promotion to poker table cleaner. You will get a chance to get your shark a better job each day. The top job is the Teamster Pension Fund Boss. It pays up to 40,000 chips per day (plus whatever you can skim). If your shark needs more money, you can get it to moonlight by working at the poker den.

There are many things you can do with your shark’s income. You can gamble it away at the poker tables or you can use it to buy stuff to increase your shark’s value and push it up the rankings. The more items you have, the higher your poker skills will go and hence the higher your overall value will become. You can only buy items once and can’t sell them back once they’ve been bought. The most expensive item you can buy is your own casino. That cost 500,000 chips.

How The Sharks Make Money

Poker Sharks is monetized with just Google AdSense. It’s blend very well at the upper left hand corner. Lynx should consider adding some poke affiliate deals to the mix. Eventually, some player will get tired of playing for play money and want some real action. Then again, online poker for real money is illegal in the US now.

If you’re into games like Second Life or The Sims, you should like Poker Sharks. It’s no where near as advance as the other games, but it is a lot of fun. So far my baby white is ranked 221 out of 264 sharks. That’s not too bad for the first day. I wonder how long it will take to be number one? Think you can beat me? You’re welcome to try!