Poker Calculator Report: PokerCharts.com

This review goes deeper into our assistant software perspective, where not necessarily being a poker calculator, assistant software does certain and varied calculations for you, that allow you to improve your poker game.

PokerCharts.com is such a service. Improving your poker game, whether it be holdem, omaha, stud, no limit, pot limit, casino ring games, or any other poker profit seeking venture, involves scrutiny on your part. The kind of scrutiny that analyzes your own game based on the common variables that you find in the variety of poker games that are available in casinos, online, and at private and friendly games as well.

Here is the idea. After every game, or session you log into your account at pokercharts.com and enter the details of that session. There are categories for where you played, and what type of game. What the limits were, tournament or ring game, known opponents, notes on opponents, buy-ins and virtually every other conceivable scenario that could come up. You can even record the game you play with your friends for a social night, except that this service is really for improving your serious game and consequently your bankroll.

So after you have been collecting information regularly, the real value of pokercharts.com emerges as now you get to analyze all of that information. It isn’t difficult to do either. In fact, by the way pokercharts.com produces immediate graphs on your performance, you will instantly be able to identify situations where your game suffers or excels.

For instance, while viewing my stats, I noticed that I played much better at 10 buck sit and go tables than I did at the 5 buck level. This would be contrary to what I would guess, because of the weaker players at the 5 buck tables. It also tells you which game, limit, and venue you perform best at as well.

If you knew for example that your hourly win rate at a 10/20 limit table was $36 you would think that that was time well spent. With PokerCharts.com however, you could research even further and divide the 10/20 limit games you between casino and online tables. Let’s say then that you discover to your shock that playing the internet 10/20 limit holdem games, your hourly win rate is $88 as opposed to your casino games where you actually lose $8 per hour. Do you think this kind of information would cause you to think twice about where you play? Well if it doesn’t then PokerCahrts.com may not be able to help you, but neither would Howard Lederer coaching you over-the-shoulder would.

PokerCharts.com also has a main chart area that compares many different variables so that you can see graphically how your game is improving by way of ROI, and thus, the effects on your bankroll. You can even compare your performance to recent Dow Jones movements.

I really like the text paragraph below the main chart area which essentially talks to you about how you are doing recently, what is your best game and your best venue. Another thing it points out is how long you play each week, which could be a warning bell for some players.

PokerCharts.com has a trial offer for 30 days.

Poker Sit and Go Report: How to Avoid Tossing your Computer Through a Window.

This strategy report could also be called Anger Management for Online Poker Players, but I thought the throwing the computer thing was pretty typical of a tilt session in the privacy of your home or office. Tilting is the result of inadequate anger management, and to help manage your anger in poker, here are some critical elements of your game that you need to master. If you cant grasp the importance of bankroll management, situation analysis, and emotional detachment then you stand little chance of being successful at sit and go tournaments.

Bankroll Management

I have stressed the importance of bankroll management before, but here again when sit and go tournaments is your business, you need to adhere to the 5/10 rule while building your account. This means you cant play at tables with an entry fee larger than 10% of your account including entry fees and it is even more prudent when you play closer to 5%. So if your account is at 100 you should be playing 5 sit and go tables, until you build it up to around 150 - 200. I am sure that sounds tight to you, but a loss or an ugly bad beat will be much easier to shake off when your poker bankroll doesnt take a huge hit because of playing over your head. Think about it. You ARE going to have bad beats, but the mathematical laws of poker protect you from them over time. You just need to allow yourself such protection. So ask yourself this: Are you more likely to stomp on your brand new Dell lap top if:

A Your set just lost to a gut shot on the river and you were in a 505 sit and go tournament and finished OTM 4th leaving your poker account at 73.75, OR

B Your set just lost to a gut shot on the river and you were in a 5.50 sit and go tournament and finished OTM 4th leaving your poker account at 123.75?

Can you see how playing within your limits can be liberating in the sense that you adopt the right attitude after a bad beat. Hey, I played it right, he got very lucky, I was in with the best, my play was a profitable one. On the other hand, if your bankroll suffered a huge hit, your comments may be more along the lines of. that &%#@ got so &%?# lucky, piece of %?#&, &? %&?%%, and so on. Then you will be jumping into another sit and go tournament ready to set fire to somebody - yourself most likely! By the way if this sounds familiar, the truth is we have all been there at one point or another. There is hope.

Situation Analysis

This involves big picture analysis of the tables dynamics and how they relate to a contentious hand you are involved in, that inherently has at least a good chunk of your stack (if not all of it) in harms way. What I am talking about here is that before committing, you should have a relative grasp of all the factors at your table. These factors include, among others - blind structure, stack size, opponent profiles, and envisioning your worst case scenario. Given positive indicators, calling off a lot of your chips may in fact be the right move and at times even when you figure you are likely behind in the hand. This is because your worst case scenario may not be that bad. This happens often in a First or Third decision, where third place is still the money, but to draw out would mean a commanding chip lead and a likely first place finish. Here is another typical, worst case scenario. You are in a contentious hand with a blockhead and have top pair. So far he has played all of the 12 hands to start the tournament. Losing the hand will leave you with only 850 chips, but with 30/60 blinds. Having surveyed the weak skill level at the table, you feel that this may still be enough for time and opportunity for a winning game. However, if you win the hand you can build a huge chip lead early. Most times when I am faced with a game critical decision, I consider the worst case scenario after the hand plays out. If I can live with it, and I have a reasonable chance of winning the hand I usually go for it.

When you are able to think clearly and analyze your worst case scenario after you take into account all the elements of your situation, it gives you a calming acceptance of the outcome, no matter what. This decision making model alleviates tilting to poor play because you had a pre-understanding and arrangement for being in your current predicament.

Emotional Detachment
You may know what is at stake and you may have a clear comprehension of odds and outs, but if you cannot detach your emotions from the hand, the game, the money, or the opponent, then your emotions will be making decisions for you.

Lets say you were charging a famous personality to manage your actions at the poker table. It doesnt even have to be a poker player. It could be an actor, politician, teacher, or policeman etc. I like to think that I can make decisions like Clint Eastwood would if he were managing my personality. I would be all of this - smart, tough, calm, prudent, patient mixed with selected aggression. But I would never be emotional at the table, and others would fear me for it.

Your emotions will be one of the toughest aspects of your game to master and overcome. There is no easy way out. We all inject some emotion into our game, such as fear, sadness, anger, shame, resentment, jubilation and so on. If you hire a manager to ensure well thought out actions at the table, your emotions will eventually become an aside to the game, allowing you to fully comprehend and enjoy the complexities of the poker.

Anger Management in Poker
In closing, the better you are able to manage your anger in poker, the more your game is going to advance. Your skills at the game cannot advance if your emotions are acting as a roadblock. These lessons herein will help you avoid situations where emotions naturally come into play. If you manage to avoid those situations, profitable sessions wait ahead!