Avery Cardoza's Casino 2000 by Cardoza Entertainment can be looked at in one of two ways. The first, and more optimistic, view is that this and other gambling games allow people get all of the fun that they would out of a casino at home, without losing money. The second, perhaps more realistic, view of these games is that they make players want to go gamble away their money. Either way, though, gambling games are here to stay.

Avery Cardoza's Casino 2000 is a good simulation of a casino. It includes just about any type of game that you might want to play, and there are explanations for all of them. If you have no idea how to play craps, you have two choices: you can either read the strategy guide, or you can ask the expert. The expert gives you tips on what you may want to do, and they are typically helpful. Blackjack in particular is made much easier for the novice thanks to the expert feature. The expert counts cards for you, and lets you know what you should bet, and even tells you why.

The graphics are not very advanced at all. That is okay, though, because this is a casino game, where graphics are not that important. The casino lobby is shown at the beginning of the game, and from here you can select from all of the different games via either the mouse or the menu bars at the top of the screen. Selecting a game brings you to a close-up view of it. For games where there is typically a dealer (roulette, craps, blackjack), a dealer is shown. There are different dealers for each game, ranging from an American male blackjack dealer to a French roulette dealer. The dealers also make small talk with you, and are usually on your side. There is enough of a variety of phrases so that the dealers do not begin to bore you. I like the idea that Cardoza Entertainment wanted to make the game interactive, as many past casino games were just, well, there. There was no interaction.

Another feature that I liked was one that allowed you to choose your bankroll. You are able to select either $250, $500, or $2500 to start with. This makes the game somewhat more realistic, causing you to bet more as you would in a real casino.

My personal favorite casino game was blackjack. I liked all of the different options included. You could select the number of decks that the dealer dealt with, the rules of the game, and so on. The dealer is witty, cracking jokes and making small talk.

My recommendation for this game is that you have a large amount of empty space on your hard drive. You can choose to do a minimum install for 15 megabytes, but that causes a great amount of load time. The full install, 330 megs, while large, speeds up the game a large amount, and is worth it if you plan on playing the game often.

For those who either cannot get to the casino, do not want to go to the casino, or are too young to go to the casino, Avery Cardoza's Casino 2000 is a great alternative, and gives you all the strategy and features of a real one. Happy gambling. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Nothing special here. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

The sounds are enjoyable. The dealer's chats are witty and vary enough to keep things interesting. Many of the tunes for the slots/video poker games are catchy, and all of them relate to the theme of the game (Jungle, Irish, etc.). ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

Almost as good as the real thing. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide

All of the different games keep things interesting, but it gets tired after a while. ~ Mark Kanarick, All Game Guide