Poker Indicator
One of the Originals, now replaced by Holdem Indicator
There is a well-travelled free version of Poker Indicator (which has limited capabilities) and as being one of the original poker calculators. True to it's age, the current design may remind you a bit like those web pages you use to surf in the mid 90's . However, we all know looks can be deceiving, and Poker Indicator is just that. A powerful, poker odds calculator that also offers a database feature that collects game information on your opponents that you can use during your current game, or recall stored information when you meet that opponent again. An electronic black poker book if you will.
The displays are in two separate windows and you don't have to use Stats feature if you choose not to. (But why wouldn't you?) This feature is particularly helpful if you  play the same "circuit" night after night. Even on places like Party Poker I meet a lot of the same players on the 5/10 6 seated ring games, as I do at the $10 and $20 Sit and Go tables. The Best of it: Poker Indicator uses the Slansky Group hand rating, which for beginner and intermediate players is an excellent reference. I like the fact that they are the programmers, but a Poker Pro is guiding the recommendations. The Opponent Stats window is absolutely invaluable. For this feature alone, the program is worth the investment, and while it doesn't require a lot of set-up or graph studying, it is a good habit to have it running on all your games, every game. The "spreadsheet" look and feel can easily be ranked by the different categories letting you see at a glance for instance who is the loosest player, and who is regularly in with "the best of it". The Not So Best: The odds layout and hand category is so confusing and ancient looking, that I rarely refer to it. In fact, I usually run a competing program at the same time, for the same table, to save me from trying to figure the mess of numbers that seem to collide with each other. It also shuts down when I leave a table, requiring me to relaunch every time I start a new game - irritating. If this program ever gets a graphic make-over, it would easily be the best of poker calculators. Take note now of the updated version of this software - it is called Holdem Indicator and is reviewed on this site as well. Holdem Indicator |
Poker Calculators and When to Know You Need One
With the growth of online poker odds calculators, it has become apparent that many of us actually need one. Why else would those poker programmers keep designing them as fast as online players can buy them? At least two companies have even renamed virtually identical poker calculators just to cover different angles of this fast growing market.
The popularity of these programs should be just cause for you to have one yourself, by virtue of just trying to stay even with your competition. Figure this, every table you sit at, at least 2 players have some sort of external software helping their decision process. Even for good players, that limits the profit potential. Poker Calculators have a forthrightness about them that shows you the true value of hands that you may have thought were good enough to play. If you don’t have that in your face all the time, emotions can get the best of you and cause you to make costly errors.
Here are some more reasons why you may need a poker calculator, all of which lead to the fundamental problem of losing too much money.
You know you need a poker calculator when;
-your wife has fewer charges on the credit card than you.
-you can quote the details of several reload bonuses.
-your favorite poker site keeps sending you thank-you emails.
-your favorite poker site sold your email address to another poker site.
-a select few players seem to follow you from table to table.
-your opponents often chat you up, in an over-friendly kind of way.
-nobody leaves your table before you do.
-several players always offer you a nh message when you finally win something.
-your average account balance at the end of every day is around 5 bucks.
-you feel your dog is laughing behind your back.
-you’ve resorted to black jack, and have actually done better.
-you can’t figure how many outs you have to a flush draw.
-you can’t figure what an out actually is.
-it’s hard to remember where the FOLD button is.
Some of these may seem comical, but seriously, many are very real for a lot of online players. Poker Calculators give you control, offer discipline, and improve your bottom line quickly. There isn’t one poker calculator you could pay for that will not pay for itself within a couple of hours at any $1/$2 table. Read some of the reviews on my website, choose your favorite poker calculator, and then get in the real game.