Genre(s) Poker card game Mode Multiplayer video game | Developer Zynga | |
Designer(s) Justin Waldron
Eric Schiermeyer Programmer(s) Michael Luxton
Justin Waldron Platforms Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Windows Phone Similar Zynga games, Other games | ||
Zynga poker
Zynga Poker is a social game developed by Zynga as an application for the social-networking website Facebook as well as Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Windows, MySpace, Tagged, and Google+. It was created and launched in July 2007 by a team consisting of some of the founders of the company including Justin Waldron, Michael Luxton, and Eric Schiermeyer. According to a March 2011 ESPN article, with 38 million players, Zynga Poker is the largest poker site in the world. According to a 2014 article by Dean Takahashi, about 350 million have played Zynga Poker, and the game has millions of daily players.
The game allows Facebook players to simulate playing Texas Hold 'em poker in a social gaming environment. Users enter a casino lobby and can play at any table or join friends for a game. Players choose from casual tables, tournament play, or VIP tables. A leader board shows players how they compare in chip ranking to other players and allows players to send or receive gifts.
As of August 2010, the game is available in Mandarin Chinese in China as well as on Facebook in Hong Kong and Taiwan under the name Zynga Texas Poker. The game is also available in English, Indonesian, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, and French. The mobile version of the game is available in 18 languages.
In March 2011, Zynga Poker hosted PokerCon, a live poker tournament at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
In July 2012, Zynga has announced that it will be providing real-money gaming outside of United States in 2013.
In July 2014, the game received a major update. According to Jeff Grubb of VentureBeat, the change was unpopular with users, who believed that Zynga was "throwing too many unwanted features in the way" of playing poker.