Hoyle Casino 2000's installation procedure is very straightforward. Pop in the CD, open the installer, install, and play. Although it does place nearly 100 MB of files on your hard drive, the installation time seemed a bit longer than normal, but nothing to get concerned about.

Right from the beginning, I noticed a Windows-like interface. The look of the windows, radio buttons, text boxes, push buttons, etc. all looked like they came from the dark side. Nevertheless, Sierra still came through on ease of use.

The first thing you should do when creating your character is use the Face Maker. this very easy to use, built-in utility allows you to make any kind of face you want. Mix and match hair, eyes, ears, mouths, skin color, gender, weight, etc. You can create a face that resembles yourself, or one that is totally off the wall.

From there, name your new creation, and start playing. We Mac users may be used to a menu bar at the top of the screen, but the bottom aligned buttons in Hoyle Casino 2000 still gets the job done. With buttons for File, Goto, Options, Actions, and Help, it acts just like a menu bar. I guess Sierra was going for a Windows look all the way around.

The hardest part of this game (besides winning) is choosing what game to play. With nine games including Blackjack, Craps, Horse Racing, Keno, Pai Gow Poker, Poker, Roulette, Slots, and Video Poker, as well as over 350 variations of these games, it can be a difficult choice. Sometimes, it may seem as if too many variations are available. But that's just not true. If you don't like one style f play, try another. You are bound to find something you like.

With all these games, how do you learn them without becoming overwhelmed? Well, Sierra not only included a hefty strategy guide, but also built in a nifty tutorial system. These tutorials will not only teach you how to play, they will teach you how to play well.

Even with these great learning materials, it can be very hard to win consistently. But, remember what Sierra's one goal was? Getting you prepared to take on the real Casinos means getting your accustomed to losing. We all know it's not easy to win at these places, so Hoyle Casino 2000 does a great job of portraying this as well.

However, nobody goes to a Casino alone. You bring friends and family with you, and everyone has a great time. That is why Sierra included a Hot-Seat multiplayer mode. This simply means that more than one person can play the games on the same computer, at the same time. This is wonderful for parties, or just when you have a few friends over.

Yet, there is something missing here. While The box touts multiplayer games over the net, the Mac version is not included in this offer. Only after you read through the manual do you find out that Macs can't play this over the net. I thought this was very misleading, and should have been stated clearly on the box.

Even without net play, this game is still a barrel of monkeys. No matter whether you like playing alone, or with a couple friends, you will have a good time no matter what.

I had one crash the very first time I used the Face Maker. After increasing the memory allocation by a couple megabytes, that set-back was overcome. The other minor problem I ran into is more of a bug in the program. If you play a couple hands of, let's say, Blackjack, the computer opponents will win and loose money accordingly. But, if you decide to take a peak at your statistics, the computer players; money will reset to the default setting. It's nothing big, just an aesthetic glitch.

This game is good clean fun for everyone. No matter if you are a hard core gambler, or just someone who likes games, you will enjoy Hoyle Casino 2000. Plus, it's great for people of any age, as there is no blood and guts, inappropriate language, or any other offensive material. Just an all around good game that provides hours of fun.

Pros	Cons
Decent graphics 9 games with over 350 variations Perfect casino like atmosphere Tutorials and hints can help you become a better player. Multiple player support Easy to use FaceMaker	Hard to win (just like a real casino) Sometimes the computer players get annoying Windows like interface No Internet multiplayer for the Mac version
8/10 stars