Poker Programs that might help you out

Most online poker players today are not familiar with the many programs available to help them to win more money. Almost all of these programs have been written by average players with programming skills who came up with a good idea to improve their own game. There are four main types of programs available. Each of them gives players an advantage over the other players at the table and helps to improve their game.

Programs to track opponent’s statistics
My favorite programs to use are the ones that keep track of your opponent’s stats. One of the most important aspects of any Brick and Mortar poker player’s game is studying opponent’s to decipher tells. Online that is a very difficult thing to do. Using programs, players are able to track things such as how often players call or fold and the size of the bets being made. The best of these programs will save these statistics so the next time you sit down with a player you have already seen you may already know their playing tendencies.

Programs to track your statistics
There are many programs which will track your statistics. These help you to become a better player by allowing you to look back at your play after you are done. In the heat of battle, player’s often don’t have time to analyze every play and make the correct decision. After the game is complete these programs help you to see if you were playing too loose or betting incorrectly. The goal of these programs is to help you solidify your game.

Programs to calculate Pot Odds
Most people cannot instantly calculate the pot odds of any scenario without help. There are many programs available which will allow you to quickly enter a scenario and get the odds of seeing one of the cards you need to win the hand. Many are simply spreadsheets, but others are very complex programs which will read the information being passed to your computer and calculate your odds automatically.

Programs to practice
I have never been very thrilled with programs where you play against a computer. Most of these programs stack the odds in the players favor to keep their interest. Let’s face it; who wants to play a video game that beats you for weeks on end like the real game of poker can sometimes do. Still, these programs are a good way to learn the basic rules and skills necessary to compete against live players.

Illegal Programs
There are illegal programs available which attempt to tell you the cards other players hold. If you are caught using one of these programs you will lose your money and be kicked from playing at the poker site in the future. Sites monitor for these programs and will catch player’s using them. I have seen one program making these promises which costs a lot of money and does not deliver what it promises. People who send the money simply lose their investment. I definitely do not recommend trying these programs.

Poker Columnist
Gary Steele
www.poker-programm.com

Enough of theory? Why dont you take some time to read our online poker section, where we feature the majority of the online pokerooms. We play there, test them and rate them - you can also read reviews and comments of other players and visitors.

Alternatively browse through our other poker articles listed on the site:

Poker Position - Poker Position at the table

Sit and Go Tourneys - The ides of Sit and Go Tourneys

FM Ratio - Folding Money or Free Money ratio

Monetary requirement - Bankroll

Hold'em Starting Hands - Evaluation of the Hold'em Starting Hands

Computer Analysis - Computer analysis of the hands

The Bonus Factor - The added bonus factor and its consequences

or see the full list of the articles.