Poker Winner Blog

Using a Computer for Interactive Poker Practice

In the past, you could learn the nuts and bolts of poker quickly, but you could get experience — that old beginner’s bugaboo — only through the school of hard knocks. There was no comprehensive, integrated poker course for beginners. You just had to run the gauntlet of costly errors at the tables and take your lumps. Period.

Then poker books came on the scene, making things a lot easier for those willing to study them. By using book and others we recommend in a continuous cycle of reading, studying, playing, and thinking, you’ll have a real leg up on the competition. Videos and seminars will help, too. And do discuss your play with experienced friends!

Still, poker, like musical performance, is a hands-on activity. No matter how much you study and prepare for it, you must actually play to improve. There’s just no way around it.

You must interact with other players, too. Poker is, after all, an interactive activity. In music, you can become a big-shot soloist superstar, playing merrily away in the limelight, generating big bucks by your lonesome. To become a poker star, you must constantly interact with other players while monitoring and adjusting your own play. That’s how you improve!

The best poker books and other learning aids can give you a solid framework for winning play. They cannot give you the extensive hands-on, interactive game experience you need. A computer can! A PC can provide three types of interactive play:

• In interactive poker software games, a computer functions simultaneously as instructor/guide, practice opponent(s), and progress assessor. There’s no financial risk, and you can practice to your heart’s content at no cost beyond the initial cost of the software. Most importantly, you’ll improve constantly.

(Don’t think you’ll have it easy playing against the computer opponents, either. Some are even tough enough to give experts a run for their money!)

• Linked to the Internet, your computer can bring you play-money games in which you will compete against live opponents. The other players will be much like you, just wanting to learn and have fun. You’ll be able to “chat” with them as you play by typing messages on your keyboards back and forth. There are no financial risks, but there may be a nominal fee for using the Internet site. (And some sites are absolutely free.)

l Your computer can link you to Internet poker casinos where you can play against real people for real money! Keep in mind that this is no longer practice, but real poker! Consider the pros and cons of this carefully before getting involved.

An interactive Self-Study Course

Interactive computer software games and Internet play-money poker games are the heart of a comprehensive self-study course. They get your head out of poker books and get your game off the ground.

But wait! You don’t get to abandon those books — ever! You’ll be reading and rereading them throughout your poker career. They’ll also be valuable while you cut your teeth on computer poker games. Nobody will see you sneak a peek at a hand-ranking start chart or look up this that tells whether you really should have reraised with four players yet to act behind you. Keep those books handy.

Be creative! Mix it up! Read a paragraph, play a hand. Walk the dog. Think about the hands you just played. Get some coffee. Think some more. Read that on short-handed play, then set up a short-handed game. Play some hands. Play more hands. Get the idea?

Think of your self-study course as a three-legged stool:

• From a choice selection of poker books you can learn everything from the bare-bones essentials of poker to advanced theories. That’s one leg.
• The second leg is a quality computer poker software program in which you’ll play against computer opponents and work on specific problems.
• As a supplement, you can play in mock games for play-money against human opponents on the Internet (whenever you just have to know there are real folks out there).
• The final leg is the lively interchange of ideas and opinions you’ll find in an online newsgroup dedicated to poker. By participating frequently in rec.gambling . poker (RGP), you’ll grow by leaps and bounds in your understanding of the theoretical and psychological elements of poker. You’ll even have a ready-made audience whenever things aren’t going well!

• Take a look at each of these three essential components.

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