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When it comes to the game of Poker, every poker player is well versed about the Poker Tools/Software. Online Poker is no more a luck or skill game, now poker games has turned into war of poker tools. Every poker player wants to arm him/herself with best poker software in order to stay ahead of the opponents.

Poker software is a tool that is used for online poker game. Players use the poker tool for their numerous advantages like knowing the opponent hand’s history, the strength and weakness of a particular table etc-etc.

Today, poker software like pot odds tools, calculators, stalking tools and general tracking tools have brought a complete new dimension for online poker game. It is just like having the assistance of a perfect poker player that gives 100% winning advice to you while you play online poker. Every game of online poker has poker software all with new key components and special features.

When a player plays poker, he has limited knowledge of the opponents like what happened before and what is going to happen. The primary reason behind this is that one cannot know about the opponent players and their playing strategies, betting patterns etc-etc. So, it depends all on your brain; how many things you can learn about the opponents. It means you need to calculate everything by yourself besides playing the game at the same time. This goes for both the online and offline poker. Poker players whether they are online or offline, they have the same knowledge limitations.

The reason is clear behind the knowledge limitation of a human being - mostly the knowledge is not all that accurate. The brain of a human being is capable of storing a certain amount of knowledge at a time. A human being cannot keep EVERYTHING with full details in the brain. And the brain cannot also calculate the odds with 100% accuracy. Also the accuracy of all the gathered information becomes less accurate as and when emotions arise. This is the reason why the most players who play the game ‘texas holdem’ play literally in the dark when they do not use the poker software/tools.

On the opposite side, online poker players who win most of the times, do not win because they are skilled (of course they are), but their plus point is that they use poker software or poker tools. Playing online poker with poker software just makes it easy to win the game. Smart players who use these software to analyze the innumerable percentages for winning chances, odds and expected value etc-etc. Poker software is also used to show the hand strength as well as to receive playing advice from others. Players use the poker tools for identifying the tables in the lobby and then to know the weakness and strength of each table, this way the players can pre-select the tables before starting the game. Poker software is also used to track down one’s own play in order to find the leaks and then after improve their own game.

Below mentioned are the forms of poker tools that are very popular among the poker players -

Hand Converters - Poker hand converters enables the poker players to get the hand’s history files from online poker rooms. Hand converters can convert these files into eye-friendly formats. Poker players often use the Hand converters to see the played hands for analysis purposes. A Hand Converter can also affect the stack sizes, seating order, blind level and pot size per betting round. Mostly all the online casinos store the history of player hands on the player’s computer. This way the players can analyze and also keep the track of their own and other’s performance and they can also discuss the game strategy with others. Major online poker rooms like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and PartyPoker give their players an option to see the hand’s history, while others like Playtech online gaming network offers this facility of hand history but in not in the text format.

Apart from the above useful things, a Hand Converter can also be used to gather the opponent’s statistical information, both for the players one has played against and the players one has never played against. Though, access to the hand history files is considered a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy and some online poker rooms do not offer their players the hand history files, but one can generally request a transcript through email.

In the world of online Poker game, PokerStat was introduced in the year of 2001 as the first ‘Hand History Converter’. Now a number of poker soft wares and other online tools offer this useful functionality.

Odd Calculators - Poker Odd Calculator is a medium that is used to derive a poker player’s winning chances, losing chances or tying chances. As the game of poker involves various complexities and also the rules constantly changes, the odd calculators are the statistical machines and the card counting and probabilities is very rare. The Poker Calculators are of three different types - poker odds calculators, poker advantage calculators and the last one is poker relative calculators.

A poker odds calculator is used for calculating the winning ratio of a player. The winning ratio of a player is calculated by dividing the number of games won by the total number of games for a player.

A poker advantage calculator is used for calculating the winning ratio and also to normalize the winning ratio in relation with the number of players. With this poker calculator a normalized value between -100% and +100% describes the winning change of a player in a locked domain. So, if a player’s result is -100%, then the player looses the game with no regard to the number of players in the game. On the other hand, if a player’s result is +100%, then with no regard to the game players, the player wins the game.

Both these poker calculators provide results for a particular game scenario. The game scenario variables are - the game being played, the hand available for the player and the number of players in the game. Then there are poker relative calculators that are used to display the winning chance of a player in relation with the chance of winning of another player.

Poker relative calculators are displayed on the poker tournaments and shows as these poker calculators provide more close winning chances of a player. However, the poker professional do not use this poker calculator.

Till now, you must have understood that the main difference of using and not using these software creates the big gap between winning players and losing players. Of course, the experience and skills matter a lot, but certainly much like poker software/tools does. So, gear up for some best available poker software/tools before you jump on to the poker table as it will ensure your win against ALL ODDS…

When it comes to playing shorthanded games online, one size definitely does not fit all. Certain concepts, aggression being the most important, are paramount no matter WHAT level you are playing; but the low limit games with its preponderance of loose, passive opponents mandate a slightly different style of play be used to maximize profits.

As at any level of poker, starting hand selection is key. At Party Poker’s lowest level, the six seated tables are littered with players who see 60 to 70 percent of flops. We advocate that you keep your percentage somewhere around 30. While you are ditching your long term losers, most of your opponents will be bleeding money by playing negative expected value hands.

While position is important in Texas Holdem, it is much less important in low limit shorthanded play. Pre-flop raising is infrequent, so you will rarely be “punished” for limping with a hand of moderate strength. We advocate the following starting hands recommendations: Raise with pairs down to Nine, Ace-King to Ace-Ten, King-Queen, King-Jack and Queen-Jack suited. Limp with any suited Ace, Ace-nine and Ace-eight, Queen-Jack, King-Ten, Queen-Ten and Jack-Ten. King-nine can be played late, and Queen-Nine and Jack-nine are optional in late position. Play pocket sevens and sixes anywhere. Lower pocket pairs can be played if there are two limpers ahead of you. Suited connectors down to seven-six should also be played in an unraised pot. Other suited hands to be played are Queen-Nine, Queen-Eight, Jack-Nine and King-Nine. Jack-Eight and Ten-Eight can be played late.

Beware of playing too many hands in the blinds. Even tight players get caught limping in the small blind with poor hands. This is a long term money loser. Stretch your opening hand list only slightly in the small blind, and don’t be too eager to call raises in the big blind. Remember, most of these players raise only with top-notch holdings, so you’ll probably be at a disadvantage if you call a raise.

Shorthanded Poker is typically characterized by raising and aggression. However, this is often less effective at the lowest limits. Your pre-flop raises will typically be called in several places. At higher limits, raising with hands like pocket sevens is an effective strategy, as against a single caller you will probably be a favorite. However, this play is a loser at low limit shorthanded holdem. You will not be able to bully your way to pots very frequently. When you have raised with your big cards and missed the flop, position becomes most important. Frequently you will be up against three or more opponents. If you’ve missed the flop and are last, take a free turn card if possible, or fold to an opponent’s bet. Against two opponents, bet the flop and use your judgement on future streets as to whether you think you can bet them off the hand. Low limit players will generally call you down with any pair, so bluffing them on the river is a long term losing play. If they’ve stuck with you that long, checking (and then folding) is probably your best course of action.

If you’ve hit your flop, whether you raised or limped pre-flop, you must be extremely aggressive. Your starting hands are more solid than everyone else’s. The low limit players’ tendency to chase to the river with poor holdings must be punished. Bet and raise with impunity. If you are in the blinds and flop top pair, even with a weak kicker, by all means check raise. Punish other players for trying to steal pots or betting their middle pair. This will pay off handsomely, as they will remember being check raised and give you free cards later on. Remember also that top pair is a stronger hand in shorthanded games than it is in ten player games, so treat it as such. If you’ve flopped top pair, it is unlikely that one of the other two cards to make top pair landed in the other ten cards dealt to the table. Raise any bettors with top pair, regardless of the kicker, unless there was a preflop raiser. One last note on post-flop play: If you are heads up with someone, throw in a bluff raise occasionally. Many of your opponents are inexperienced and will drop their hands in the face of a raise.

With the plethora of poor players at the lowest limits of shorthanded poker, the game is ripe for the picking. Aggression, while still very important, must be toned down a bit, however, in the face of the numerous calling stations you’re likely to find at these tables. So remain tight, play VERY aggressively when you’ve hit something, but don’t try to bully your way to too many pots and you’ll build a big bankroll by swimming with the fish.

The 2005 World Series of Poker event is scheduled to begin June 2, 2005 in Las Vegas and an estimated 5,000 players are expected to participate in the $10,000 buy-in, no-limit Texas hold ‘em main event.
The event will be held at the Rio Hotel and Casino from June 3rd to July 15th, with the last two days taking place at Jack Binnions Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas.
The buy-ins for the 2005 WSOP events range from $1,000 to $10,000 and most of the WSOP tournament final tables are taped and televised by ESPN.

The World Series of Poker started as an invitational tournament in 1970. Jack Binnion invited the best seven poker players in America to his casino in Las Vegas to decide whom Americas best poker player was. Johnny Moss won the 1970 WSOP title by actually being voted the best player by his playing companions.
The 1971 World Series of poker was played as a freezout tournament, meaning one player had to win all the chips.
Thirteen players participated and Johnny Moss won it this time fair and square with some brilliant poker play.
T. J. Cloutier has been the most successful WSOP player over the years and has finished in the money in over 30 events. He has won five first place gold bracelets and finished second twice in the main Championship event of Texas Hold’em.
Anyone, regardless of gender or nationality can play in the 2005 WSOP as long as they are 21 years of age and can afford the $10,000 entrance fee.
World Series of Poker has become extremely popular in the recent years. Especially since the 2003 WSOP Championship, when Chris Moneymaker, (yes it is his real name) won 2.5 million dollars after qualifying through a 40 dollar online satellite tournament.
In 2004 there were 2,576 entries for the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em WSOP Championship and the prize money had increased to more than $49 million. Greg Raymer beat 2576 players to win the first price of 5 million dollars for a buy-in stake of $40 which also was won online. The 2005 World Series of Poker will last for approximately 40 days and an estimated 10,000 poker players from all over the world will compete in more than 30 different poker events. The winner of each event will be awarded a gold bracelet and first place cash prizes ranging from $500,000 to $10 million.