Stern’s World Poker Tour, released in 2006 and designed by Steve Ritchie with Keith Johnson, brings the early-2000s televised poker craze to a fast, flowing playfield. Themed around the high-stakes tournament circuit, it’s a Ritchie design through and through — quick, combo-friendly, and built around an upper playfield and a clever poker-hand scoring structure that rewards a player who learns to stack its features.

The scoring revolves around building poker hands and chasing multiballs. Completing hands via the left and right ramps qualifies the Poker Corner modes, and starting one re-qualifies the Ace in the Hole multiball — a satisfying loop that keeps the action building. Ace in the Hole is started by capturing the ball at the upper-level lock and bashing it, with a clever add-a-ball available by re-opening the lock and banking another ball mid-multiball. The expert combination layers Ace in the Hole with No Limit Multiball and one of the Poker Corner modes (Change Gears is the pick), started in the right order for maximum points.

There’s smart, Ritchie-style flow strategy too, including the trick of deliberately draining balls so they feed back up to the upper playfield while the ball saver is active. Fast, clean, and deeper than its straightforward theme suggests, World Poker Tour is an underrated mid-2000s Ritchie machine that rewards a player who learns its hand-building rhythm and multiball stacks. For fans of a good combo game — and anyone who enjoys the thrill of going all-in — it’s an enjoyable and rewarding table. Ante up and play your cards right.