If you’re playing online poker, you can easily get confused with all the different tools offered by the software. There’s a lot to choose from when it comes to learning how to play, but not always is there one tool that is more important than another.
Most of these tools focus on analyzing your game and giving you advice in areas where you may be losing. They are also valuable resources for improving your game. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorites below.
You’re in luck if you’re looking for quick and simple poker strategies to improve your No Limit Hold’em game.
Even the best poker players don’t always win, but this list will still help you get better whether you play cash games, tournaments, in-person poker rooms, or online.
Analyzing Your Play
One of the most important things to do if you want to improve your game is analyze what you’re doing wrong. One way to do this is to use a program like Hold’em Manager Pro or PokerTracker. These programs have a built-in set of tools that will help you track your statistics over several sessions. If you spend time tracking your stats, you’ll begin to realize patterns in your play which is helpful for making adjustments.
For example, let’s say your opponents have started to call you with worse hand after worse hands. This isn’t a good sign because it means they have you beat. You need to make sure that you’re still raising strong and that you’re getting called down on weaker hands. Another thing that might happen is that they start to limp behind. This tells you that they’re running low, so you should put them into action.
Another useful feature of these programs is their ability to give you information about your opponent’s range and tendencies. They’ll tell you whether they tend to bluff a certain amount, fold a certain number of times, and so on. They can also provide information about how often they hit their draws.
This gives you a good idea as to how to approach the table and make decisions based on your opponent’s tendencies. For example, if you know that your opponent only checks behind, then you know that he probably has a weak draw. You can either raise with a weaker hand or reevaluate your strategy to prevent him from calling you again.
Tools That Give Advice
A great way to learn how to play better poker is to read articles written by other players who have been successful at the game. The best ones are usually written by people who are professionals. The reason for this is that they understand the psychology involved in winning at the game and are able to impart those tips to players just starting out.
When reading articles, however, it’s important to remember that it’s an opinion piece. While someone with years of experience may offer advice that works well for them, it doesn’t mean that it will work for everybody else. A good example of this would be a player who won his first bracelet in 2014. He wrote an article explaining everything he did to win. The problem was that the methods were specific to his game and didn’t really apply to others.
To avoid falling prey to this trap, look for articles written by players who have been around awhile. It makes sense that they would have developed their own strategies and learned from their mistakes along the way. Their advice will likely take longer to develop, but should be worth the wait.
Tools That Help You Find Better Players
The Internet is full of forums dedicated to discussing poker. On many sites, you can find threads where members talk about the strengths and weaknesses of various players. When you join a forum like this, look up the players you’d like to practice against. Then, search through the posts and see what kind of advice is being given. Sometimes, you’ll find some great insights. Other times, you’ll just find a bunch of trash.
Finding good players can be done in a couple of ways. One is to find players that frequent a particular site or area of the internet. If there’s a popular poker room in your area, chances are that you’ll find some good players there. If none exist, you can try joining other rooms and asking around for players that regularly participate in tournaments.
You can also simply ask around in person. Some poker rooms are very welcoming and will happily point you toward players if you give them your contact information. Most players like to chat with newbies, so this type of networking can lead to great relationships.
How Do You Know How Good Someone Is?
It’s hard to judge how skilled a player is without knowing anything about their previous results. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t look at their history. In fact, it helps to have access to their past performance. If you don’t feel comfortable searching through their history yourself, you can hire a service to do it for you.
There are a few different types of services available. Some charge per hour and others charge per session. Either way, you pay for the privilege of having someone else run your searches. They’ll pull information from many different sources, including websites, tournament results, and even news stories.
The information that they collect is used to generate reports showing their previous success at the game. It’s easy to create charts and graphs showing your progress and compare yourself to your competition. Some companies even have bots and software that will automatically perform their searches for you.
Tools That Provide Tips
Some of the best tools that you can find on the web are those that actually provide tips and tricks for improving your game. Many of these tools are free, and you can get a ton of value out of them.
One of the best places to find poker tips is in the comments sections of articles posted on poker blogs. These are not professional opinions, but instead are from actual players who share their experiences playing the game. Often, they’ll post strategies that have worked for them and explain why they think they’re effective.
They also offer suggestions for beginners, so it’s always a good idea to check out their advice before deciding to implement it. Some of their recommendations may seem strange and far-fetched, but you never know until you try them.
Sometimes, you’ll find that a single tip will solve a lot of problems. Others will require multiple changes to your style of play. Still others may be completely useless since the circumstances they were intended for no longer apply.
Whatever you decide to do, it’s essential that you follow through and use the strategies. Otherwise, you could end up wasting money without seeing any real improvements.
Tools That Automate Your Play
There are also services that will automate your play for you. Once you enter your desired stakes and number of pots, the software will automatically adjust its play. This is useful for players who are short on time or simply don’t have the patience to sit through long hours of playing.
The biggest drawback to using automated play is that you lose control of your own decisions. You aren’t going to learn much from watching the software handle your games like DominoQQ. However, it does allow you to concentrate on other tasks while your computer plays itself.
Another issue is that automated play tends to favor aggressive players. This is because the software tends to assume that players are playing tight and will continue to do so throughout the entire session. As a result, you’re less likely to get calls or raises with weak hands. The only exception is when you’re a big favorite, but even then your odds of hitting your draws are lower than normal anyway.
In addition to not teaching you anything, automated play also takes away from the social aspect of playing. You miss out on the chance to interact with your opponents and get to know them better.
Tools That Let You Test Your Hand
Of course, one of the most powerful tools that you can use is testing your hand. Not only does it give you valuable information, but it also keeps you motivated to keep practicing.
You can test your hand by using tools that are designed specifically for the purpose. One such tool is the “Test Your Hand” button that most poker sites include in their software. It provides a quick and simple way to test your hands and see how they stack up.
The other option is to use a specialized tool that allows you to input your hand and see how it compares to other hands. The difference between these two options is that the former is more general purpose and the latter is tailored to your exact situation.
While both options have their advantages and disadvantages, whichever one you choose, you’re guaranteed to receive valuable information. By using these tools, you’ll know exactly where you stand compared to your peers, how you compare to the average player, and how many pots you should expect to win.
Tools That Can Make Your Games More Exciting
Finally, you can use tools to spice up your games and make them more interesting. One of the most prominent examples of this is the chat window that many sites include. It’s great for when you’re bored and waiting for your opponents to act.
You can talk to your fellow players, discuss the game in general, or even have a little fun. Just don’t go overboard. Don’t talk too much or insult your opponents. Most importantly, don’t get angry or start yelling. Doing so will only ruin your reputation and make it harder for you to build a positive relationship with your opponents.
