Do
you use a poker odds calculator?
I
sure hope so. Odds calculators are a CRUCIAL part
of winning money at online poker. Here are a just
a few ways an odds calculator can QUICKLY and EASILY
improve your game:
UNDERSTAND
YOUR STARTING HAND STRENGTH...
The
biggest mistake made by most card players is playing
TOO MANY HANDS. For example, tell me if this thought
has ever crossed your mind...
"It's
worth calling the flop even though I have bad cards
- because who knows, I might catch three-of-a-kind...
or two pair... or something really good!"
Every
poker player has had this thought from time to time.
Even the pros.
But
the problem is, thinking like this will cause you
to LOSE MONEY in the long run. And the reason is because
of the ODDS. Even though you might make a "great hand"
once in every twenty flops, those other nineteen hands
will cause you to lose MORE money than you won.
But
here's the thing:
The
right odds calculator will show you EXACTLY how strong
or weak your starting hand is... based on a PERCENTAGE
and will show you the appropriate "Sklansky Starting
Hand Group". What this means is you will IMMEDIATELY
know how good your hand is, as soon as the cards come
out.
For
example, at a 10-man table pocket Aces has a hand
rank of 100% and is GROUP 1. Pocket two's has a hand
rank of 63.3%, which is in GROUP 7. (This is for hands
to the river.)
But
let's be honest... understanding how "good" those
hands are is EASY. You don't need an odds calculator
for that.
But
let me ask you, which of THESE hands do you think
has the highest "Hand Rank"?
a.)
Queen-9 suited
b.) Ace-5 suited
c.) Jack-10 suited
d.) Ace-Queen offsuit
(Here's
a hint... the strongest hand is NOT options "b" or
"d"...)
Give
up? Are you surprised that A-Q wasn't the strongest?
Well, that's just ONE of the ways an odds calculator
can be incredibly useful... you'll know the exact
hand strength right away and can make a more educated
(translation = MORE PROFITABLE) decision before the
flop.
KNOW
YOUR CHANCES OF HITTING AN "OUT"...
As
you probably know, "outs" are cards that will help
you improve your existing hand.
For
example, let's say you're holding 5-6 and the flop
comes out 3-4-Q. That means you need either a two
or a seven to make a straight...
Since
there are four two's and four seven's in the deck,
you have EIGHT OUTS.
Odds
calculators will show you how many outs you have at
any given time... and also give you the PERCENTAGE
chance you have of getting them. In addition, a REALLY
good odds calculator will "break it down" by each
hand...
For
example, in the scenario above with the straight draw,
let's say you ALSO had a spade flush draw. That means
you have more than eight outs, since one more spade
will help you.
Premium
odds calculators will show you the exact percentage
chance you have of making the straight, the exact
percentage chance of making the flush, and the TOTAL
percentage for the two...
This
is a huge time-saver for you. Online poker is fast-paced...
and it's not practical to sit there and do advanced
calculations and long division while you're trying
to make a decision.
PLAY
YOUR POSITION MORE EFFECTIVELY...
In
Texas Holdem poker, positioning is everything. You
want to play MORE hands with good positioning and
FEWER hands with bad positioning. It's that simple.
The
odds calculator I recommend allows you to ADJUST your
starting hand settings depending on where you're sitting
at the table. For instance, if you're on the button
(the dealer position, which is the best position to
be), the program will automatically set the "Hand
Rank Requirement" to 50%...
...So
if you pick up a hand that has a Hand Rank LOWER than
50%, it will recommend that you fold.
But
if you're UNDER THE GUN (the player to the left of
the big blind, which is the worst position to be),
the program will automatically set the "Hand Rank
Requirement" to 85%... so the software will make "tighter"
recommendations while you're in this position.
Make
sense?
Now
here's the real beauty of this:
IMPROVE
YOUR SKILLS MORE QUICKLY...
Most
poker players improve their skills over YEARS of hard
work, practice, and study. This is the slow and painful
way.
Using
an odds calculator ACCELERATES the learning process
dramatically. Here's why:
As
you're playing online poker, the odds calculator will
automatically compute the odds, hand strength, percentage
chance on outs, and so on. You'll use this information,
make better decisions, and win more money.
Then
here's what will happen...
In
a matter of months, you'll find yourself "knowing"
the odds and hand strength WITHOUT looking at the
software! It will become "natural" to you... because
you'll be seeing the same types of hands so frequently.
Of
course, you'll still want to use the odds software
for the more advanced calculations.
But
you'll be AMAZED when you sit down at the poker table
with your buddies, see the flop, and then blurt out:
"He
has an 19% chance of making the flush on the river."
Your
friends will think you're a poker genius! Because
the truth is, learning the odds ISN'T about learning
the MATH... it's about SEEING and PLAYING with the
numbers in front of you frequently enough.
This
is how the pros do it... and this is how YOU can do
it with the right tool.
GET
"ODDS-BASED" RECOMMENDATIONS...
Ultimately,
the point is to reach a conclusion about WHAT YOU
SHOULD DO IN A GIVEN SITUATION... BASED ON THE ODDS.
You
and I both know that "odds" are only a PART of the
game. They may be a BIG part, but they're still just
a part. There's bluffing strategies, betting patterns,
and many other factors that will affect your decisions...
Now
let me show you the odds calculator that I use when
I play online poker. It's called "Texas Calculatem".
One of the great things is that it gives you "odds-based"
recommendations...
In
other words, it take the outs, percentages, ratios,
number of players, starting hand strength, and everything
else... compile it all together... and then spit out
a "decision" about what you should do.
So
while you're playing online poker, this program will
run near the bottom of your screen and say something
like, "Check" or "Fold" or "Call Unraised Only" or
"Raise and Re-Raise"... and so on.
And
here's another reason why I like Texas Calculatem
so much:
ADJUST
YOUR PLAYING STYLE AUTOMATICALLY...
Texas
Calculatem lets you adjust your "style" according
to your preferences and table strategy.
For
instance, let's say you're playing a 10-player Sit
and Go. Well, at the beginning you want to play extremely
tight because you just want to SURVIVE as the other
players start knocking themselves out (after all,
Sit and Go's pay out for the top three finishers,
so there's no need to risk many chips in the beginning).
So
what I do is set the "Pre-Flop Slider" to a very tight
setting.
BUT...
when you DO play a hand in the early stages of a Sit
and Go, you want to play it AGGRESSIVELY. Especially
if it's a really good hand like a high pocket pair.
Because the reality is, there are a lot of "loose
manics" at the Sit and Go's who will call anything...
so you want to increase your chip stack by taking
advantage of them.
So
in that situation, I set the "Post-Flop Slider" to
a more aggressive setting.
You
see, with Texas Calculatem you can adjust each of
these settings without affecting the other. And you
can adjust them mid-game or any time you want (I adjust
mine back to more normal levels when it gets down
to six players in the Sit and Go).
Of
course, it's the same way with Ring Games and other
tournaments. In a four player ring game I like to
play lots of starting hands and aggressively "bully"
my opponents... so I adjust the sliders to the looser
and more aggressive settings and "Bam!"... the program
adjusts its computations automatically.
AND...
get this...
Texas
Calculatem instantly adjusts all of the odds and recommendations
based on HOW MANY PLAYERS are at the table. In ring
games people are constantly getting up, sitting out,
coming in, etc... and in Sit and Go's players are
continuously being eliminated. All of this makes it
confusing to figure out which hands to play and how
to play them.
Calculatem
adjusts everything AUTOMATICALLY. You don't have to
input anything, either. It "detects" everything by
itself.
Speaking
of detection... that's something else you need to
be aware of:
DON'T
BUY AN ODDS CALCULATOR WITHOUT THESE FEATURES...
There
are some KEY FEATURES that make an odds calculator
a very effective tool. But ironically, MOST ODDS CALCULATORS
don't have these features!
For
instance, most odds calculators make you "manually"
type in what your cards are... what the flop cards
are... and so on.
This
makes no sense. After all, you can do the math faster
than that!
Texas
Calculatem was designed in a way that requires NONE
of your time or effort. It automatically "attaches"
to your poker game and detects your cards and the
cards on the table (from the flop, turn, and river).
You just sit back and focus on the game.
Obviously
Texas Calculatem doesn't read your OPPONENTS cards,
though... since that information is completely secured
by the casino. (That sure would make things easier,
huh?)
Another
great feature that Calculatem has is called "Fold
Depth". This basically uses "human logic" to make
the odds computations more accurate. For instance,
let's say the flop came out 7-7-3 and two players
folded.
Texas
Calculatem "knows" that neither of those two players
folded the seven. (Duh!)
The
reason this is important is because it affects all
of the ADVANCED calculations from that point forward.
Using the "human logic", Texas Calculatem knows a
more accurate percentage of WHERE the other two sevens
are... as well as all the other cards in the deck.
The
result is a program that is far superior and more
useful than any other on the market. In fact, I've
really only "scratched the surface" of all the features
that Texas Calculatem has... and all the ways it can
help you win more money at online poker.
Honestly,
the question isn't whether or not you need an odds
calculator...
The
question is: How can you afford NOT to use one?
The
cold hard truth is that many of your opponents WILL
be using Texas Calculatem... which gives them the
IMMEDIATE ADVANTAGE at the tables.
If
you're only going to play poker for "play money",
then I guess it's OK. But if you're playing for REAL
MONEY, then you need to download Texas Calculatem
to your computer TODAY. Without it, you're just another
fish.
The
best part is, Texas Calculatem is FREE when you setup
a new account at one of the partner poker rooms...
So
click this link, setup your account, and download
Texas Calculatem for FREE. You'll be winning more
money at online poker within the next five minutes...