Brag is essentially a game of bluff, or as the author of the program puts it, "the ability to out psyche your opponents". Your opponents here are a bunch of characters called Wild Bill, The Kid and Puggy. If you want to be pedantic I suppose you could say you are really playing a computer, but believe me, after a few games you really do seem to be playing them.

You can control the type of game each will play, from sheer bluff to mathematically precise. Or, a far better option, you can let the computer decide who plays what type of hand, making for a far more natural type of game.

You do have a disadvantage: your winnings are limited to £1,000 whereas the rest have no limit. Shuffling takes about 15 seconds, and I played one game of 44 hands in one hour. If you like Brag, this will give you as good a game as most humans. It is possible to beat the computer, but not as consistently as you would like.

B.B.