Paid Poker Soft
There are lots of paid programs around, though their benefits vary greatly. Again, I’d like to have
a look only at the best of the programs that are much used by players and that have noticeable
advantages over free soft.
If you are rather new to poker and want to improve your skills you should try poker simulators. They will give you an opportunity to play with computer opponents, analyzing your moves and giving
advice on optimal playing methods. Wilson Software was the first to present a range of such programs.
You can get Hold’em, Omaha and Stud versions, $60 each. As befits a program of this class it offers
various computer opponents (bots with adjustable level of play), gives advice and analyses your results.
It also has interesting ability similar to preflop calculators. You can see how certain hands play
against different opponents. But unlike calculators it will give you not odds to win on showdown, but
amount of money lost/won, which can be quite at variance.
At the moment “Poker Academy” bots are considered the strongest around. You can get “Academy”
for $130 or see bots on Party
Poker training tables and in “Stacked with Daniel Negreanu” computer
game. The program itself is a very good, high-level poker simulator that works with limit and no-limit
Hold’em.
If you love Sit&Go tournaments you simply must purchase “S’n’G power tools” ($79). It’s
not much of a simulator, but rather an analyzer and a tutor. It has a number of lessons for players
(no-limit hold’em tournaments) and allows you to make the best decisions in the tournament. You set
info about players, stacks, and cards and get particular recommendations. By the way, this program and
free “PokerStove” are recommended by Dan Hurrington in his book (considered the bestseller on
tournaments and no-limit Hold'em).
During the game you can use odds calculator (even though yes, I spoke against them at “Free Soft”
page). Probably “Poker Indicator” ($55) is the best product among such software. It supports
automated cards reading at 150 poker-rooms (including all popular ones), so you wouldn’t waste your
time entering cards into the program. “Poker Indicator” calculates outs, winnings odds, gives
recommendations, it also shows EV for you pocket cards helping you preflop at the same time.
“Indicator” has some basic opponents’ stats for current session, rather like a simplified “Poker
Tracker”.
It was a kind of bridge-to-poker statistics program. “Poker Tracker” ($55) was mentioned several
times already, and it’s the most popular stats program. Many popular poker-rooms keep player’s hand
history on his/her computer; “Tracker” collects, arranges and stores this info concerning not only
the actual player, but his/her opponents as well. All your games are kept in “Tracker” database, and
you can retrieve any information from there. “Poker Tracker” is used to analyze your own play
(number of hands played, aggressiveness, blinds attack and defense, play in different positions and of
different pocket cards, etc.) and to see opponents’ stats during the game. You can find several
programs that can be used with “Tracker” to add some interesting features, the best of them reviewed
here. Hold’em, Omaha and Stud versions of “Poker Tracker” are available.
“Poker Office” ($80) is the main rival of the “Tracker”. The second version of this program
is quite new and can outshine “Tracker” in some dimensions. “Office” also collects stats (though
number of supported rooms is lower) and allows analyzing it by using various filters. “Poker Office”, unlike “Tracker”, has a built-in charts feature, an on-screen opponents stats display,
and a better re-player.
I hope you remember about a free “GameTime+” program that place “Poker Tracker” stats of
opponents into the window of a poker-room. “Poker Ace HUD” ($25) is a similar paid program. It is
based on the same principle, but has some advantages over free soft. It shows more parameters,
automatically connects to open poker-room windows, and shows opponents’ cards mucked at showdown
(though only if the poker-room hand history supports such info). IMHO it has some disadvantages too –
it doesn’t seem to work with some rooms and offers a less convenient stats positioning.
The last program to review will help only the limited number of players – that is, only those most
active ones who play many tables simultaneously. “MultiTableHelper” ($25) supports
Party Poker and
Poker Stars, which allows opening more than 10 tables. The program helps to play efficiently on a large
number of tables that would not fit onto your monitor without overlapping.
You can buy abovementioned programs using Credit Cards or PayPal, and some also support Poker
Stars internal transfers. Many sites offer a “free way” to get a program, but you must register, make a
deposit and play a certain number of hands in their partner poker-room. Check programs’ sites for more
information on making purchase. I’m sure these programs will pay you off many times their original
price. |
