Tools To Help Your Online Poker Game

Programs you can find online to strengthen your poker strategy, some working along with the software of your favorite online poker room.

There are plenty of ways to improve your poker game. The most recommended way to gain an edge on your opponents is to read every book ever written on poker. But for some online poker players, the advice you find in the most prestigious poker books isn't applicable to online play. Matthew Hilger has written a book for internet players called Internet Texas Holdem: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro. It’s a great place to start if you are serious about improving your online game. Hilger includes plenty of tips for internet players that you won't find in any of David Sklansky's books.

There are several computer programs and software out there that you can install and download that can improve your poker game.

Poker Tracker (http://www.pokertracker.com/), a Windows-based program that analyzes, stores, and summarizes all of your hand histories. You can pore over the data and find leaks in your game. You can store both ring game and tournament hand histories. Poker Tracker works with the major online poker sites including Party Poker, Paradise Poker, Empire Poker, PokerStars, and Ultimate Bet.

With Poker Tracker, you have an option to playback your hands. It is similar to watching game film in the locker room as professional athletes do. You will see exactly where you made a mistake so you can make adjustments in your play from that point on. & Another excellent feature is being able to track your play by position and see if you are playing too many hands from early position or not defending your blinds enough against steal attempts. You can track your individual hand results and determine which hands are costing you the most money and which hands win you the most pots. My favorite feature is the ability to track your opponents. You can rate their style of play and keep accurate and detailed notes on how many times they see the flop, which hands they play and raise with preflop, or how often they fold on the river.

Poker Tracker is an overwhelming program because there is so much you can do with it to improve your game. Although there are suggestions on how to use Poker Tracker on their website, I found that the best supplement for the software is Poker Tracker Guide (http://www.pokertrackerguide.com/). Written by two well-known poker bloggers, HDouble and Iggy, Poker Tracker Guide is what the beginner online player needs to optimize the Poker Tracker software. The authors will teach you how to gain an informational advantage over your opponents. The best section in Poker Tracker Guide is the chapter on how to auto-rate players based on their system. They also show you how to auto-import player notes from Poker Tracker into your online poker site. Poker Tracker Guide definitely enhances your knowledge on how to use Poker Tracker and you should get these inexpensive tools as soon as possible.

Wilson Turbo (http://www.wilsonsw.com/) has simulation software for different poker games. Many experts feel that the artificial intelligence is well developed and that is part of the reason why Wilson Turbo is the best simulation software in the marketplace. You can choose from specific playing styles, or create your own set of playing styles to get a real-life experience while playing in a simulated game. An excellent feature of Wilson Turbo is being able to obtain instant pot odds and advice while you are playing. Their hand analyzer keeps track of what hands are your best winners or how often your big pairs lose. You can order versions for different types of games other than Texas Holdem. This is an amazing tool that lets you see plenty of flops before you ever step into a casino.

Poker Charts (http://www.pokercharts.com) is an exceptional tool for players who are meticulous record-keepers and prefer to analyze data in chart format instead of in a spreadsheet. Poker Charts is an advanced way to see the progress of your poker game. You are able to track your play session-by-session by uploading your information. You can quickly figure out random statistics like overall hourly win rate, average return standard deviation, average hourly win rate standard deviation, big bets won or lost per hour (BB/hr), return on investment as compared to an equal investment in the 30 stocks in the Dow Jones Industrials Average, and streak information. In addition, you can analyze this data by using different filters. Overall, Poker Charts is a well-organized journal and computational scorecard of your sessions.

Player View (http://www.playerview.net) is an innovative program that works in conjunction with Poker Tracker. It overlays realtime statistics on top of your Party Poker's (and Party Poker affiliates’) skin window. You can see the data on the poker table you're playing. This is a helpful tool that allows you to have the numbers and data clearly visible, to assist you in making those quick decisions.

Of course there are plenty of other websites and different forms of software that claim to pad your bankroll. The websites and programs I’ve listed above are reliable and inexpensive compared to the amount of money that you will save in plugging those leaks in your game. Every day your opponents are gaining an extra edge on you. It's time to close that gap. With so many different ways to improve your poker skills available on the internet, you will continue to hurt your game if you do not take advantage of these opportunities.~~