Seattle iPhone app developer Michael Burford has two words to describe Apple's decision to remove two of his company's products from the App Store.

"It sucks," said Burford, who learned this week that his company's "Poker vs. Girls" and "Poker vs. Guys" apps had been deleted. The "Poker vs. Girls" app -- which sold for $2.99 and allowed users to play Texas Hold'em poker against women in skimpy outfits -- had been one of the company's best sellers.

"While it had fallen off recently, it had consistently been in the top 100 of the Casino games in the App Store and top 50 for much of the time, and its loss will be missed from our little portfolio of apps." said Burford, whose company sells about 20 other iPhone apps which were unaffected by the changes.

Poker vs. Girls was one of Headlight Software's top apps

The companion app -- Poker vs. Guys -- never sold as well. Burford said that it generated enough revenue to pay "for a visit to Starbucks every couple days." Nonetheless, he was somewhat perplexed as to why the game were removed given that they never included photo galleries and encouraged good game play in order to beat opponents.

Despite the fact that the apps were removed, Burford said that he's still continuing to develop products for the iPhone. In fact, as a consolation, just last night the company's recently introduced "Knife Dancing" app reached the No. 2 position in the free app category.

"That's really taken away the sting," he said. "The part of us that's grumpy at some of the App Store policies is much smaller than the part that's walking around in a daze and jumping for joy thanks to the App Store."

Meanwhile, Burford is taking a lighthearted approach to the removal of the strip poker apps. Just yesterday he submitted a new game to the App Store.

It is called "Poker vs Strong Female Role Models. The description takes a swipe at Apple's policy change, noting: "Coming soon. Hopefully."

"Play poker against smart, career-minded women," the app description says. "A college professor, an author, a doctor, a librarian, a pilot, a musician, a computer programmer, and a mathematician."

Let's see if Apple has a problem with that.

UPDATE: Burford shared his analysis on the back-and-forth with Apple as he attempted to get approval of the "Poker vs. Girls" app, which he said was rejected four times before its approval in December of last year. (Warning: Some might find the images objectionable).

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