Using software to play poker by the hour.

Many players taken upon themselves to learn the game of hold'em better and better, as their early experiences in the game sent them around the school of hard knocks a few times.  Usually after entering the online poker scene, fresh players tend to quickly get better, or get out of the game entirely. It doesn't take long to realize that firstly, it isn't as easy as it looks, and secondly, bluffing your way to internet poker stardom is about as likely as getting a part in the next John Wayne movie.

 

Yes, for those players that actually stick around and take the time to learn the game and understand Texas hold'em strategies, profiling techniques, bankroll management, and the psychological aspects of the game, there is plenty of rewards in online poker. However, one of the first realizations that committed players make, is that they have to find the most profitable game structure for themselves while building their bankroll.

 

The only way to do this realistically, is to monitor your hourly rate. Let me explain this because understanding your hourly rate, is pivotal to your online poker success. For example, if you know that your hourly win rate is $19 an hour sitting simultaneously at 2, $1/$2 limit hold'em tables and compared with a win rate of $4 per hour at the $.10/$.25 cent no limit hold'em tables, well the financial health of your poker career stipulates that you should be playing that limit hold'em game - at least for now.

So how do you keep track of your hourly rate? You guessed it - third-party software.  There are several bankroll management programs or websites out there that will help you keep track of every session you play.  All you have to do, is that when you're done playing - you submit the information into your software, that would include time played, which poker site you were playing at, what limit and table structure, tournament or ring game, and of course your profit or loss for the session.

Here are the resources you can look into on this website:

PokerCharts

Poker Dominator

Personal Poker Pal

I have a friend online, who plays tournaments and cash games, although he clearly spends more time playing tournaments but asked me before about his hourly rate.  Now it's true that he had a couple of tournament wins, both in the vicinity of $2,000US over the last year. These wins, of course really boosted his ego and his poker bankroll, although he had a steady climb of cash game consistency as well.

After only a few weeks of recording all of the sessions, it was crystal clear that he was far more profitable.  Plain cash games than he was tournaments. In fact, the comparison wasn't even close something near five times more profitable plain cash games. Guess what he plays mostly now? If an experienced player like this can let something so fundamental slip through his game, then it's worth taking a look at as you improve your poker skills and advance your profitable game decisions when playing poker online.