Poker Winner Blog

Getting lots of practice quickly

Here’s another fabulous timesaver available in some of the Wilson Software programs. Once you set up a game and click to start it, a screen instantly pops up to ask whether you want to be dealt random hands, hands worth at least a call, or strictly raising hands. (Now don’t you just wish you could do that in a real game?)

The zipping and hand-skipping features enable you to play 60,000 hands — the equivalent of a full year’s play in a live game at 30 hands per hour, eight hours per day — in a quarter of that time (or less). It’s a lot like typing; you’ll get faster and faster as you practice. How many hands can you play per hour? Except for those hands you elect to play out, your speed will be limited mostly by how fast you can click that mouse. Read the rest of this entry »

Interactive Poker Software Programs

Computer poker programs have come of age. The best programs offer interactive learning opportunities that were unavailable only a few years ago. Improved versions are hurtling down the pipeline at warp speed, each leaving its predecessor light-years behind. The realism of contemporary programs has largely negated statements made by poker gurus only a few years ago:

“I suspect poker is just too difficult a game to program reasonably well,” wrote one expert in 1996. At about the same time, another expert wrote that computer opponents were unable to learn from events in previous hands when making decisions, something a human player always does (or should). Read the rest of this entry »

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! Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re serious about improving your poker skills — especially if you’re a beginner — you need to get cozy with a personal computer. Here’s why:

The union of poker and computer technology offers an opportunity to jump- start your poker progress and move up the learning curve with ease. Playing poker on your PC will also save you money: Dump those beginner boo-boos before they cost you dearly in real games!

Today’s poker students can use a personal computer as the cornerstone of a comprehensive, interactive self-study course in poker. If you study poker books and use a computer to practice your newfound skills, you can leapfrog past the anguish and expense of gaining experience the old-fashioned way (by losing your greenhorn’s money to the sharks). Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you simply have to know that you’re playing against, well, real people — not against computer creations. When the computer opponents of interactive software games have you talking to yourself and longing for human adversaries to gripe about, what can you do?

Just as you can find almost anything else on the Internet, you can find poker games. These cybergames have no physical location, but you can summon them up from your personal computer at any time. Like genies in a bottle, they await your command — all it takes is a few clicks of your mouse! Read the rest of this entry »

Staring at You

When it’s your turn to act, an opponent conspicuously staring in your direction is likely acting. This usually is a dare, an attempt to prevent your bet through intimidation. The opponent may call but will almost never raise. This means that you can bet any medium-strong hand with impunity, not fearing a raise.

So, instead of being intimidated by an opponent staring you down, simply consider that you can make more borderline bets for profit when you hold marginally strong hands. Read the rest of this entry »

Poker is a brilliant blend of strategy and psychology — there is really nothing else like it. When compared with strategy, however, how important is psychology in poker? Well, you can beat poker without understanding psychology, but you can’t beat poker without understanding strategy. Therefore, it’s important to learn the fundamentals first. But wait! Now we’re going to say something that — at first — seems to be contradictory:Psychology can account for the majority of profit you will ever make in poker!

That statement is true because after you master the fundamentals of poker, you’re most of the way to becoming a good player as far as strategy goes. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you want to become a better poker player today? Right now? Here are ten specific things you can do today, and each one of them will improve your game.

Know Your Numbers

If you don’t learn, understand, and use poker’s mathematical parameters, it will prove difficult to be a consistent winner in the long run. For example, if you’re playing Hold’em and flop four cards to a flush but don’t know the odds against completing that hand, what will you do when it’s your turn to act?

How will you ever know whether calling, raising, or folding is a play with a positive expectation? Finding positive expectations is the essence of winning poker, and it’s no more complex than recognizing those situations that will show a profit if they could be replayed time and again. Read the rest of this entry »