Online Poker Tools, Part I
If you are looking for ways to become a more profitable poker player Poker Tools are definitely something to consider. These tools wont make you world champion over night but if you select the right tools and dedicate the necessary hours to studying them you can achieve tremendous improvements to your results.
If you are new to poker don’t jump in and start looking at the different poker tools – start out by reading a few good poker books (these might give you a good start: David Sklansky: “The Theory of Poker” and Ian Taylor + Matthew Hilger: “The Poker Mindset”) and play some free (or low stake) online poker hands. Once you know a little more than the basics of the game it is time to start thinking about which online poker tools can best help you improve.
This series of articles will explain the different poker tool types and teach you how to select the tools that are best suited for your situation.
Series overview:
Part I: An introduction to the subject of Online Poker Tools. Part II: Classification of the different poker tool types. Part III: Detailed info about the “must have” poker tools. Part IV: Detailed info about niche poker tools.
House rules are important. Just as most land based casinos doesn’t allow card counting in Black Jack or the use of electronic devices in the casino many online poker rooms are selective when it comes to the use of poker tools. Pokerstars probably has the most restrictive policy in the business with a long list of banned poker software tools and programs. This article will give you a good idea of the characteristics that are typical for banned software types but to make sure please check the rules of your local poker room.
If you expect to buy a couple of poker tools, install them and then start playing (and winning) much better poker than you are now, you will be disappointed. The best poker tools all demand that you put in the time to learn how to use and understand them. This can be many hours but the better poker tools are definitely worth your time, as you will improve over time.
A word of caution, please do NOT run out and buy 2, 3 or more poker tools after having read this guide. Most of the tools require a lot of focus and concentration in order for you to really benefit and having 2-3 new poker tools on your PC is simply too much. Concentrate on learning all the details of one tool at the time.
The single most important reason to use online poker tools is to improve your skills and thus win more. The good news is that this is entirely possible to achieve the “bad” part is that is takes time. Now please move on to the next part in which you will learn which poker tool type is best for you: Trackers, HUD’s, Online Databases, Calculators, Charts or Poker Robots.
By: Dennis B.