Video Game Review : Vegas Stakes : <i> For Super NES by Nintendo</i> ,<i> $49.95 </i>

You can go make-believe broke in the comfort of your own home with Nintendo’s Vegas Stakes. In this game, you and four computer-selected friends journey to Las Vegas, hole up at the fictitious Golden Paradise Hotel and Casino and proceed to sample the games.

You start your quest for fortune with a stake of $1,000. Grab one of your friends and head for the casino.

Start off at the slots. These whirring gizmos, which originated in San Francisco around the turn of the century, are aptly called one-armed bandits because it’s unlikely you’ll leave the casino with as much as you went in with if you stick to these babies.

You may play from $1 a spin at the Hideaway to $1,000 at the Laurel Palace. Tell the machine how much you want to bet and hit the X button. The three reels of fruit, numbers and bars spin just like the real thing.

Then, move on to more complicated games. Blackjack is next.

This is the popular card game, also called 21, in which you try to get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. More than 21 is a bust, and you lose. You can play all the popular permutations, including double down and split.

Roulette should be your next stop. There are unusually detailed instruction booklets laying out the most popular bets, such as selecting a single number, betting odd or even numbers, all the numbers in a column or a “dozen” bet, in which you select the first, second or third dozen numbers on the playing field.

Craps is the back-alley dice game, cleaned up for casino high-rollers. But it’s the same--your bet wins or loses based on the numbers that come up when the dice are tossed.

Last but not least is seven-card stud poker. In this game, you are playing against four other gamblers. You get two cards down and one face up. High card up bets first. After the first round, you get another up card, and the betting begins again.

Finally, when you have seven cards--the last one is face down--there’s a final round of betting, and the best five-card hand wins.

The game is designed to be compatible with Nintendo’s Mouse, but it is easier to play with a standard control pad. You can play with up to three friends, and your bankroll can be stored in a battery-powered memory.

One cute addition is the folks who will come up and talk to you during your game. Some are sincere, some are con men who will try and talk you out of your money. Let the player beware.

There are other gambling-based games, but Vegas Stakes is at the top of the heap. I liked the poker game best, but all are entertaining--especially if you win.