I don't often get upset. Even when I am getting beat-blasted on Full Tilt Poker all night long, I am still able to take it with a grain of salt - at least after a few swear words slip from my mouth.
Today however, I am upset and it has nothing to do with winning or losing money. It has everything to do with unscrupulous marketers making outlandish claims about heir products, obviously trying to suck blood from down and out workers who are looking to the internet as a way to get their financial life back in order.
The Online Poker Analyzer is that product and the brunt of my disgust today.
These snake marketers hired actors to to record video testimonials of an empirical poker calculator that brings absolutely nothing new to the table in terms of features, while also having a locked down design so that users cannot even multi-table. Give me a break.
The copy writing on their page however is brilliant, but creativity with no boundaries on realistic claims isn't something a writer would be proud of either. In my mind this is despicable, pathetic marketing that is targeting new online poker players who find themselves looking to online poker as a way of replacing a lost job or income in extremely hard economic times. I reiterate this on my poker blog as well, but shame on Starlogic for marketing this way, rather than choosing to make a good product in the first place.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The value of SnG/MTT Tracker/HUDs Software
How do you learn to play poker? Read a lot of books, get advice, watch the good players and learn, and play a lot of hands. The last one should be on top of the list as nothing beats experience. Chess players become world champions by learning from the best but also from playing thousands upon thousands of games. It should not be any different in poker. Like an athlete, the more training you get the better you are overall.
But as you get serious with poker, how do you know if you are improving? How do you keep track of your winnings? How do you study the hands that you play to find faults in your game that you have to correct?
That is where I think the value of poker trackers come in. There are plenty of trackers down there, be it free, one time pay, or subscription based. If you’re a newbie and want to be able to analyze your game, analyze the game of your opponents and generally get a better picture of who you are up against and how you stack up, SnG and MTT trackers are great, and so are HUDs.
Tracking software is extremely useful for keeping track of all kinds of results in your games. You can find out a lot about your own play and your opponents' play. You can learn if you are a long term winning player at 5-10 NLHE to how much does player x defend against steals.
You can save your best hands, and your worst beatdowns and even get all your data sorted per hand, per hundred hands, and per thousand hands to see the trends in your game and then adjust if need be. I think with trackers now it’s a lot easier than it was ten years ago to get better at a quicker pace because you have all this information in front of you, ready to be analyzed and broken down.
For poker rankings, try TopShark, OPR and SharkScope. The first two are free, while the latter has a monthly fee. You should also take a look at Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager with Tournament Updater add-on for summaries. There’s also Poker Tracker 3.
HUDs are also very handy when doing MTT as they give you an overview of your opponents and you get to search for their history and tendencies online, but the best tool for tournament strategy is Tournament Indicator which is specifically designed for profiling in tournaments – which can be drastically different then ring games. I find that every little advantage helps. Overall, as a tool, it does not help you win games, but it helps you win games, so indirectly trackers and HUDs make your game better in the end.
But as you get serious with poker, how do you know if you are improving? How do you keep track of your winnings? How do you study the hands that you play to find faults in your game that you have to correct?
That is where I think the value of poker trackers come in. There are plenty of trackers down there, be it free, one time pay, or subscription based. If you’re a newbie and want to be able to analyze your game, analyze the game of your opponents and generally get a better picture of who you are up against and how you stack up, SnG and MTT trackers are great, and so are HUDs.
Tracking software is extremely useful for keeping track of all kinds of results in your games. You can find out a lot about your own play and your opponents' play. You can learn if you are a long term winning player at 5-10 NLHE to how much does player x defend against steals.
You can save your best hands, and your worst beatdowns and even get all your data sorted per hand, per hundred hands, and per thousand hands to see the trends in your game and then adjust if need be. I think with trackers now it’s a lot easier than it was ten years ago to get better at a quicker pace because you have all this information in front of you, ready to be analyzed and broken down.
For poker rankings, try TopShark, OPR and SharkScope. The first two are free, while the latter has a monthly fee. You should also take a look at Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager with Tournament Updater add-on for summaries. There’s also Poker Tracker 3.
HUDs are also very handy when doing MTT as they give you an overview of your opponents and you get to search for their history and tendencies online, but the best tool for tournament strategy is Tournament Indicator which is specifically designed for profiling in tournaments – which can be drastically different then ring games. I find that every little advantage helps. Overall, as a tool, it does not help you win games, but it helps you win games, so indirectly trackers and HUDs make your game better in the end.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Hand Groupings in Poker Calculators
I was curious what all hand grouping schemes people used to rank and sort their hole cards and decide what to play. Please pick whichever of the following items you find the most relevant or use the most personally. I'm interested primarily in NL Holdem tournament and ring play.
Note: This is my first forum pool so hopefully it turns out correctly. If anyone has any suggestions, modifications, or expansions to the options let me know and I will make changes accordingly.
I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the problems this poll is going to face is that not enough people will know about modified sklansky groupings, let alone the difference from the original. .
There are other systems, but they all suck.
Then there is EV.... well, that all depends on who is playing the cards and what is the action before you and what are the stack sizes behind. Not really that much help.
I get the suspicion this poll is driven towards including the modified sklansky groups in TI as a user setting option. If that is the case, I would have thought that a better poll would be:
"Would you like Tournament Indicator to allow modified sklansky groups to be set as a user defined option?".
One vote for yes....
That was definitely the starting point for this question and poll. But I am also genuinely interested in whats being played and how much people use any / all of the various systems.
licked gut instinct but I need to clarify.
I have never ever used a hand ranking system ever in NL games. Yes I guess that I used Sun's Core set for FLNE, but that was for learning purposes.
In my own game, when learning NL SNG MTT etc, I never referred to any hand ranking systems. I think they are great to start off with for beginners, but after more and more and more experience, I find that I know what hands I can play EV+ from every position.
I probably haven't proved it through data samples and what not, but it is through experience that I know what hand is best played from where.
I clicked "other" because it is everything and nothing and I am always shifting and actually never thinking about hand grouping systems. I think about my opponent's range and that is the only thing that affects my range.
IMO hand groupings are important when you learn to game but once that is accomplished and you have a fair bit of experience they become completely unimportant.
What I meant by a modified Sklansky Grouping is that since Sklansky is far and away the most popular and most published hand grouping scheme but at the same time has limited scope as to the situations it was meant to cover and is applicable in, I have seen dozens of altered or rearranged Sklansky hand groupings (for example the one done by CMU, see link below, or any of the variations made from it) I figured that selection would cover any of the people that use a grouping system that closely resembles but is not the sklansky groupings.
Also I know that with time and experience any player will start to rely less and less on a formalized grouping system (whether that comes putting greater weight on intuition and other factors and/or unconsciously memorizing the groupings you started with), but I am one that thanks having a good core set similar to what Sun referenced is a good resource was curious what the rest of you thought and what's systems you started with and were currently bringing to bear in your table play. Thanks again for all the information and responses.
I chose other:
Mostly I use a combination of all the above. I originally used a printed chart for Sklansky, Modified Sklansky and MIT plus another chart I forget which now.
Then I used "my own" that was based on opponent VP and his range as to whether I call/raise/fold.
Then I switched to Tournament Indicator groupings.
Now, it's mostly ingrained my range and it changes based on the situation at hand. I may have A-rag suited oop middle and either raise/call/fold dependent on all the other factors in that given situation. There is always a base root to start with, solid abc. Top 10 hands early rounds, then adjust from there.
Note: This is my first forum pool so hopefully it turns out correctly. If anyone has any suggestions, modifications, or expansions to the options let me know and I will make changes accordingly.
I have a sneaking suspicion that one of the problems this poll is going to face is that not enough people will know about modified sklansky groupings, let alone the difference from the original. .
There are other systems, but they all suck.
Then there is EV.... well, that all depends on who is playing the cards and what is the action before you and what are the stack sizes behind. Not really that much help.
I get the suspicion this poll is driven towards including the modified sklansky groups in TI as a user setting option. If that is the case, I would have thought that a better poll would be:
"Would you like Tournament Indicator to allow modified sklansky groups to be set as a user defined option?".
One vote for yes....
That was definitely the starting point for this question and poll. But I am also genuinely interested in whats being played and how much people use any / all of the various systems.
licked gut instinct but I need to clarify.
I have never ever used a hand ranking system ever in NL games. Yes I guess that I used Sun's Core set for FLNE, but that was for learning purposes.
In my own game, when learning NL SNG MTT etc, I never referred to any hand ranking systems. I think they are great to start off with for beginners, but after more and more and more experience, I find that I know what hands I can play EV+ from every position.
I probably haven't proved it through data samples and what not, but it is through experience that I know what hand is best played from where.
I clicked "other" because it is everything and nothing and I am always shifting and actually never thinking about hand grouping systems. I think about my opponent's range and that is the only thing that affects my range.
IMO hand groupings are important when you learn to game but once that is accomplished and you have a fair bit of experience they become completely unimportant.
What I meant by a modified Sklansky Grouping is that since Sklansky is far and away the most popular and most published hand grouping scheme but at the same time has limited scope as to the situations it was meant to cover and is applicable in, I have seen dozens of altered or rearranged Sklansky hand groupings (for example the one done by CMU, see link below, or any of the variations made from it) I figured that selection would cover any of the people that use a grouping system that closely resembles but is not the sklansky groupings.
Also I know that with time and experience any player will start to rely less and less on a formalized grouping system (whether that comes putting greater weight on intuition and other factors and/or unconsciously memorizing the groupings you started with), but I am one that thanks having a good core set similar to what Sun referenced is a good resource was curious what the rest of you thought and what's systems you started with and were currently bringing to bear in your table play. Thanks again for all the information and responses.
I chose other:
Mostly I use a combination of all the above. I originally used a printed chart for Sklansky, Modified Sklansky and MIT plus another chart I forget which now.
Then I used "my own" that was based on opponent VP and his range as to whether I call/raise/fold.
Then I switched to Tournament Indicator groupings.
Now, it's mostly ingrained my range and it changes based on the situation at hand. I may have A-rag suited oop middle and either raise/call/fold dependent on all the other factors in that given situation. There is always a base root to start with, solid abc. Top 10 hands early rounds, then adjust from there.
Sunday, February 01, 2009
HUD explanation in poker software.
I've seen a few people talk about a "HUD" and I've seen on some of the videos the display that appears besides the players name showing specific player stats. So with that said here's a few questions:
1) I'm assuming HUD stands for "Head's Up Display".. Correct? What program provides the HUD?
2) Is said program free? And where can I get it?
3) Where can I go to learn what the stats mean? I know the jist of a a few, but would need to learn how to interpret and incorporate into my game.
4) Is it worth it at the microstakes?
5) Which pokersites is it compatible with? UB, FT, PS?
That's all I have for now, but I might come up with a few more. Thanks for the help.
The most common HuD is PokerAce HuD, this works in conjunction with PokerTracker(an amazing tool that keeps tracks of all your hands and lets you discover leaks etc)
PokerTracker is $55
Poker Ace HuD is $25
Pretty sure both of em have a free limited trial. HuD is 30days and only shows one table.
Both are compatible with most sites. Depends on the stakes and how serious you are about winning and learning to be better. Sometime think HuDs turn you into more of a robot and ruin reads on players, but truthfully at lower stakes you do want to play more tables. Higher stakes you will play less tables(usually) and get more reads etc.
PokerTracker is amazing tho and if you have the money and want to improve your game I would say start there, and then use the trial of poker aces HuD and see if you like that.
I use Poker Tracker currently, and will be buying pokeraces when I move up a bit and withdraw a little for it.
I figured that it was in conjuction with PokerTracker. And I currently have the freetrial right now. I believe it lets me import 1000 hands or something like that. I haven't really tinkered with it yet, but I will soon.
Anything on where I can go to read up on the terms used for the statistics? Such as VPIP, AF, or some other things I've seen?
EDIT: Oh and not just what each term means, but how to interpret it and use it to make better plays.
RealTime HUD is another free one, it makes its own database from the hand histories so you don't need PokerTracker. As of december it isn't being developed anymore, since the author has joined forces with HoldemManager to make the HUD part of HM. The program isn't finished yet so you can download a free beta version.
If I were you I'd go with one of those for the time being. In a few months there's going to be at least three new poker managing apps out (HM, PokerTracker 3, and one from the guy behind PokerEV), so might as well use a free one until then.
theres one called tournament indicator for SnG/MTT players... free 48 hr trial, but you have to deposit at one of their affiliated sites to unlock it, looks pretty good so far. Costs 8.95 in addition to making a deposit at a poker site ( all the big ones are included) AND play 900 hands at the site before it gets unlocked. Kind of a pain, but may be worth it.
1) I'm assuming HUD stands for "Head's Up Display".. Correct? What program provides the HUD?
2) Is said program free? And where can I get it?
3) Where can I go to learn what the stats mean? I know the jist of a a few, but would need to learn how to interpret and incorporate into my game.
4) Is it worth it at the microstakes?
5) Which pokersites is it compatible with? UB, FT, PS?
That's all I have for now, but I might come up with a few more. Thanks for the help.
The most common HuD is PokerAce HuD, this works in conjunction with PokerTracker(an amazing tool that keeps tracks of all your hands and lets you discover leaks etc)
PokerTracker is $55
Poker Ace HuD is $25
Pretty sure both of em have a free limited trial. HuD is 30days and only shows one table.
Both are compatible with most sites. Depends on the stakes and how serious you are about winning and learning to be better. Sometime think HuDs turn you into more of a robot and ruin reads on players, but truthfully at lower stakes you do want to play more tables. Higher stakes you will play less tables(usually) and get more reads etc.
PokerTracker is amazing tho and if you have the money and want to improve your game I would say start there, and then use the trial of poker aces HuD and see if you like that.
I use Poker Tracker currently, and will be buying pokeraces when I move up a bit and withdraw a little for it.
I figured that it was in conjuction with PokerTracker. And I currently have the freetrial right now. I believe it lets me import 1000 hands or something like that. I haven't really tinkered with it yet, but I will soon.
Anything on where I can go to read up on the terms used for the statistics? Such as VPIP, AF, or some other things I've seen?
EDIT: Oh and not just what each term means, but how to interpret it and use it to make better plays.
RealTime HUD is another free one, it makes its own database from the hand histories so you don't need PokerTracker. As of december it isn't being developed anymore, since the author has joined forces with HoldemManager to make the HUD part of HM. The program isn't finished yet so you can download a free beta version.
If I were you I'd go with one of those for the time being. In a few months there's going to be at least three new poker managing apps out (HM, PokerTracker 3, and one from the guy behind PokerEV), so might as well use a free one until then.
theres one called tournament indicator for SnG/MTT players... free 48 hr trial, but you have to deposit at one of their affiliated sites to unlock it, looks pretty good so far. Costs 8.95 in addition to making a deposit at a poker site ( all the big ones are included) AND play 900 hands at the site before it gets unlocked. Kind of a pain, but may be worth it.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Making long term poker odds calculations.
Profitability in poker depends on consistent and repetitive quality decisions. Often times, when in a hand that requires intricate odds calculations, you have to look at each individual situation in the long term perspective. That means taking a particular hand into account and stretching that exact situation into hundreds, even thousands of hands.
Professional players who rely on making money day-in and day-out understand this concept implicitly, and it used that knowledge to either get out of the hand or stay in it, sometimes right to the end. As a side benefit, this type of long-term odds knowledge is an excellent tool to avoid tilt, while keeping cool as weaker players make incredible suck outs or win despite poor odds.
What kind of odds do you have to understand in order to comprehend long-term odds profitability? Well, I'm not just referring here to win odds, nor just to pot odds, but there are other factors, which you can consider odds scenarios as well. For instance, what are the odds of my opponent calling his whole stack off if I make might not draw? How about this - what are the odds of one of the players behind me re-raising my call? What are the odds that they will re-raise all in? What are the odds if my opponent simply bet a draw, or bet on a hand with nothing at all?
As you can see, there are long-term odds that are rather simple to calculate, and there are long-term odds that can only be calculated in a theoretical sense. Those theoretical odds calculations can take years to become reasonably proficient at deciphering. If that's not concerning enough to you, then consider these types of theoretical poker odds decisions being made in a matter of seconds, facing some serious aggression from your opponents - for real money. If you have ever been in a no limit cash came lately, these types of scenarios are not just common, but expected.
One of the ways you can help yourself in understanding some of these long term odds scenarios, is to be using a poker calculator when playing online. When you can keep tabs on your opponent as to profiling factors such as aggression factor, went to showdown winning percentage, voluntarily putting money into the pot, and stack size, you are much more likely to be able to put together the whole story of what is really going on, and make informed - and usually profitable decisions.
What all poker players can agree on is that the more information you have about your opponents, the more likely you are to make the correct plays against them. As popular as poker calculators are these days, the majority of players still do not use them. If you multitable or multitask, you simply cannot outperform the tracking abilities of the poker calculator and you are not a winning all the pots you could be.
Professional players who rely on making money day-in and day-out understand this concept implicitly, and it used that knowledge to either get out of the hand or stay in it, sometimes right to the end. As a side benefit, this type of long-term odds knowledge is an excellent tool to avoid tilt, while keeping cool as weaker players make incredible suck outs or win despite poor odds.
What kind of odds do you have to understand in order to comprehend long-term odds profitability? Well, I'm not just referring here to win odds, nor just to pot odds, but there are other factors, which you can consider odds scenarios as well. For instance, what are the odds of my opponent calling his whole stack off if I make might not draw? How about this - what are the odds of one of the players behind me re-raising my call? What are the odds that they will re-raise all in? What are the odds if my opponent simply bet a draw, or bet on a hand with nothing at all?
As you can see, there are long-term odds that are rather simple to calculate, and there are long-term odds that can only be calculated in a theoretical sense. Those theoretical odds calculations can take years to become reasonably proficient at deciphering. If that's not concerning enough to you, then consider these types of theoretical poker odds decisions being made in a matter of seconds, facing some serious aggression from your opponents - for real money. If you have ever been in a no limit cash came lately, these types of scenarios are not just common, but expected.
One of the ways you can help yourself in understanding some of these long term odds scenarios, is to be using a poker calculator when playing online. When you can keep tabs on your opponent as to profiling factors such as aggression factor, went to showdown winning percentage, voluntarily putting money into the pot, and stack size, you are much more likely to be able to put together the whole story of what is really going on, and make informed - and usually profitable decisions.
What all poker players can agree on is that the more information you have about your opponents, the more likely you are to make the correct plays against them. As popular as poker calculators are these days, the majority of players still do not use them. If you multitable or multitask, you simply cannot outperform the tracking abilities of the poker calculator and you are not a winning all the pots you could be.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Full Tilt Suspends Poker tracker Accounts
I would rather tell people the truth that they can,and now it looks like will be suspended for using prohibited software on Full Tilt. I think there is a clear line, but some people are looking for ways to cross it.I do not want to see anyone's account suspended, it's sick, I'm all for the players here. With that said, I would NEVER recommend using prohibited software.
Almost anyone that visits 2+2 with any regularity would know that there are threads popping up daily about this very issue. Most people are ignoring the poker sites warnings. I never thought this was a good idea when our money is involved. The only way to make sure you are not breaking the rules,is to not find way to bend them. No software means just that, no.
Almost anyone that visits 2+2 with any regularity would know that there are threads popping up daily about this very issue. Most people are ignoring the poker sites warnings. I never thought this was a good idea when our money is involved. The only way to make sure you are not breaking the rules,is to not find way to bend them. No software means just that, no.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Texas Holdem Rules
I was wondering about what the standards are when 2 (or more) players agree to check down a hand when a player in the hand is all-in. I always perceived it as a form of collusion when two players make openly make such an agreement before the action takes place. Am I correct? Or should I just let this thing go?
I'm by no means a poker rules expert, but I've always considered this to be a form of collusion. It definitely cheapens the game and is unfair to the third player that is all-in, in my opinion. I also believe it's against the official poker rules if I'm not mistaken, but don't quote me on that. I'd speak up about it, especially if I were involved in the hand.
This is correct - it is collusion WHEN there is an open agreement as you are describing. Most situations though involve more experienced players who know enough to keep their mouths shut and THEN check it down - which is perfectly legal, although always suspected.
I'm by no means a poker rules expert, but I've always considered this to be a form of collusion. It definitely cheapens the game and is unfair to the third player that is all-in, in my opinion. I also believe it's against the official poker rules if I'm not mistaken, but don't quote me on that. I'd speak up about it, especially if I were involved in the hand.
This is correct - it is collusion WHEN there is an open agreement as you are describing. Most situations though involve more experienced players who know enough to keep their mouths shut and THEN check it down - which is perfectly legal, although always suspected.
Is TI miscounting OUTS as User claims?
I noticed something curious about Tournament Indicator, where I think the poker software miscounted my outs.
Let me give you the setup.
My hole cards: 6s As
The board: 3c 8s 9s 7d (we're on the Turn, with the River yet to come)
Outs as calculated by Tournament Indicator: 21 outs
(9 spades, 3 Tens, 3 Fives, 3 Sixes, 3 Aces)
The pot: $400
I'm on the cut-off, with 3 players in front of me, with me yet to act.
Okay.
Obviously, I have a Flush draw and an Open Straight draw.
What I don't understand is why does Tournament Indicator only count THREE of the tens and THREE of the fives as outs, rather than FOUR outs for each?
There are FOUR tens and FOUR fives remaining, since none of these cards are in my hand nor are they on the board.
I know, I know. I'm always worried about bugs in the software that could affect my long term profitability.
Is the software in error or are those "outs" being discounted for some reason. If they're being discounted, why?
As always, I appreciate any insight.
---
Not to worry, TI is doing its job just fine. Here's how its broken down:
-9 spades - simple enough
-3 sixes/aces - obvious again
-3 tens/fives - non-spade cards for the straight
The key here is non-spade cards. TI is not making the mistake of double counting one card twice. In this case it has already counted the ten and five of spades as two of the nine spade outs. Therefore, it does not count it again as an out to the straight.
Avoid that double counting, it makes the pot odds seem better than they are!
---
Oh, yes, of course!
How could I have MISSED that?!
LOL!
Clearly an example of me forgetting not to double count outs! Very Happy
Let me give you the setup.
My hole cards: 6s As
The board: 3c 8s 9s 7d (we're on the Turn, with the River yet to come)
Outs as calculated by Tournament Indicator: 21 outs
(9 spades, 3 Tens, 3 Fives, 3 Sixes, 3 Aces)
The pot: $400
I'm on the cut-off, with 3 players in front of me, with me yet to act.
Okay.
Obviously, I have a Flush draw and an Open Straight draw.
What I don't understand is why does Tournament Indicator only count THREE of the tens and THREE of the fives as outs, rather than FOUR outs for each?
There are FOUR tens and FOUR fives remaining, since none of these cards are in my hand nor are they on the board.
I know, I know. I'm always worried about bugs in the software that could affect my long term profitability.
Is the software in error or are those "outs" being discounted for some reason. If they're being discounted, why?
As always, I appreciate any insight.
---
Not to worry, TI is doing its job just fine. Here's how its broken down:
-9 spades - simple enough
-3 sixes/aces - obvious again
-3 tens/fives - non-spade cards for the straight
The key here is non-spade cards. TI is not making the mistake of double counting one card twice. In this case it has already counted the ten and five of spades as two of the nine spade outs. Therefore, it does not count it again as an out to the straight.
Avoid that double counting, it makes the pot odds seem better than they are!
---
Oh, yes, of course!
How could I have MISSED that?!
LOL!
Clearly an example of me forgetting not to double count outs! Very Happy
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