Hold'em Winner - Shareware Warning - Stay clear!

Think of this Poker Calculator like it was a Ford Pinto.

The problem with a lot of shareware products, is that extensive testing and support is simply not available. This program is laid out similar to the original (and outdated) texas calculatem, but is so quirky in its application software that it is hardly usable. Plagued right from the start with problem installations it doesn't get any better after that. Below is text taken from the designer's own site. Don't believe any of it. Save yourself a headache. Stay clear.

Consistently winning Texas Hold'em poker in the long run is not about hitting a miracle hand every now and then; it's about playing the odds right every time! Calculating odds precisely in a live game is easier said than done though. Even the pros find that aspect of the game cumbersome and often use approximations or take shortcuts. But today's online poker player doesn't have to...

With two revolutionary poker software applications, Hold'em Winner and No Hands Hold'em , we have taken the guesswork out of poker allowing you to take advantage of computational power in just seconds. For every decision the Texas Hold'em player faces from pre-flop strategy all the way through to calling at the river, our software provides all the information necessary to maximize your return based on the exact probabilities of winning at a given moment of playtime.

Full Tilt Poker Report: Moving Up a Level

Moving up a level at Full Tilt Poker can be an exciting proposition but not one without peril. It may have taken you weeks, or even months of extreme patience and dedication to achieve a level of security in your bankroll that allows you to move up a level, but there are certain things you should do before making the jump. You can save a lot of painful money losing sessions by actually watching the games before playing on them, where too, you can start your note taking on some of the players as they have probably not been in your circuit and there will be a lot of blanks to fill in. As well, this will give you an accurate handle on your bankroll and the true pressure it's going to be under.

It doesn't matter if you're moving from 5 buck STTs to 10 buck STTs or 10/20 hold'em to 20/40 hold'em, you will need advance scouting, and that demands you simply watch the tables you are going to be playing on. Watching involves thinking, analyzing, and guessing at each pot. Your job here is to develop your hand reading skills while being able to decipher who really holds a strong hand, or who is simply making a position play. When I watch games, I try to put the players on hands and see how many or how close I can come. The more you can do this, the more you save on calling poor bets. Money saved in poker, is money earned. After awhile, you will be proud at how many times you can be dead-on when someone turns over their hand. This is so powerful because when you actually do sit at the table, you will not be in awe, or be too sheepish to play your strong hands, and other players will know in short order they can't run you over.

If you have the dedication to watch a few games, a few hours a night, for a week or so ahead of moving up, you will already be at an advantage of at least half of your opponents when you sit in. In addition, while watching you should absolutely be taking notes on the players. Full Tilt Poker has an excellent note taking option that has color codes labeled right on the player's avatar. Get a system using 5 or 6 colors that mean something to you, like fish, pro, maniac etc. an use it consistently. You are going to be huge when you sit at a 6 handed table and 3 of them already have colors and notes. Make notes on players that play poor position cards, raise with questionable hands, and bluff too much. These are the types of players you will cash from and make your transition successful.

Your bankroll requirements are sometimes more theoretical than practical. While watching the swings that some of your competitors are taking, and realizing your bankroll may be swallowed in a session it may not be time to move up quite yet. I was offering such advice to a friend of mine who told me he was in a $33 single table tournament - even though his bankroll was only $120. I reminded him about not getting too anxious or greedy to build the bankroll to the extent of putting it at risk. He concurred, you should too.

These steps may seem far too tedious for you. They are for most, but most poker players lose money online. Be different, be prepared, and make the right move up at Full Tilt Poker.