Monday, March 3, 2008

Hold Em Genius Review


Holdem Genius Review

There is a vast amount of money up for grabs in the world of online poker; all you have to do is know how to get it. One tool that can help you gain a competitive advantage over your opponents and help you label the fish in online poker is Hold Em Genius. This particular tool is a Poker Odds Calculator and features advanced odds calculation, including pot odds, immediate outs, and up to the minute instant betting advice. If you are a dedicated online poker player than you will know that we are always looking for ways to improve our game strategies, and gain a competitive edge over our competition, HoldEm Genius could prove to be a very useful tool; hence I am going to write a detailed review and let you judge for yourself if this tool could help improve your game.

HoldEm Genius is a comprehensive, easy to use poker odds calculator which analyses pot odds, hand odds and other factors to instantly determine whether a hand is worth playing. Along with offering Odds it also offers advice on what the player should do in the hand e.g. check or bet, this can be a great way for a complete novice to learn the game. With an easy to understand interface and varying scale depending on your style of play, HoldEm genius is both adaptive and can be extremely useful for any online poker player.

To be quite honest Holdem Genius isn’t the best poker odds calculator on the market, in my opinion it does fall behind Holdem Indicator, however not many online calculators can be compared to Hold Em Indicator as it is probably significantly ahead of the competition (Hold Em Indicator Review). Nonetheless Holdem Genius is a great piece of software in its own regards, it has a few unique features such as the ‘Top Hands’ and the ‘Next Card’ Feature. This software is also great for the complete novice; as this software can be used to inform the player exactly how to play the hand right up to the showdown. Advanced players will benefit no doubt as, the software is useful in providing instant pot odds and percentages of making your draws and the chance of success with your current hand, thus saving the time and stress of calculating these yourself.

HoldEm genius automatically attaches itself to any open poker room and begins to calculate as soon as you are dealt a hand. A great feature available to Hold Em Genius is that you can play multiple tables while having the program running, I have used it on as many as four different tables at once and I'm sure it can be used on many more simultaneously, however, I would recommend to use it on a maximum of three as it can get pretty confusing.

As previously stated, HoldEm Genius is very easy to use because the program attaches itself to border of the window of the poker room you are using. Therefore, all the information you need is accessible in one window without the need to toggle between the software and the poker room. The information is laid out in easy to read tables and the recommended action (i.e fold, check or bet/raise) is placed in the centre of the screen making it as easy as possible to use the software without obscuring the view or interfering with the poker room.



The "Game Info" window summarizes all the relevant data needed for you. Aside from your current hand and the software's latest advice, you can see your hand rank, position in relation to the button, and the number of opponents in (and folded).

Additionally, you can see the latest calculated odds for winning at the river, the current pot size, and call amount, if any. If the current state of the hand is pre-flop, you will also see the % chance you will flop the best hand. If the game is post-flop, you will see your % chance of drawing out (drawing cards that will give you the best hand). Note that if you already hold a very good hand, your % chance of drawing out may be very low (because you won't need to draw to win).

Finally, this window will give you pot odds. Pre-flop, the pot odds are shown in comparison to your odds of having the "top flop" (best hand on the flop). Post-flop, pot odds are compared to your odds of drawing out, and after the river, they are compared to your odds of holding the best hand. In each case, you will either see a color coded "Favorable", "Even", or "Not Good".


A few features unique and exclusive to HoldEm Genius are the 'Next Card...' window and the 'Top Hands' window. The "Next Card" window gives your "simple outs" at a quick glance. If you are one card away from a straight, for example, you can see this instantly. The Top Hands feature displays the top 25 hole cards for the hand being played. The display updates as the hand continues. Thus - if two threes flop, the top hole hand is '3,3'. Useful? In practice the 'Top Hand' window is most useful when a robust flop occurs and you think you've got the nuts, and you’re not quite sure.

Some of the other capabilities that Holdem Genius comprises are that, the program has the ability to advise the player if they are holding the nuts, along with what hands might beat this hand and what the odds are of making a hand such as a straight or a flush at the river. Hold Em Genius is also capable of being customized to a player’s style. This means it can be adjusted for aggressive, loose or tight play as many poker players use different types of play depending on how the other players at the table are playing.

Although Hold Em Genius is a great piece of software there are a few disadvantages, and as a fellow poker player I feel obligated to inform you. Firstly concerning the advice factor of the program, you should not 100% strictly adhere to the advice this program offers, although it may make you a consistent profit in the long run, it will considerably take the fun and enjoyment out of the game and before you know it you will be a robot just clicking buttons. However I am not saying ignore the advice completely, only take it into consideration, and take advantage of using the other invaluable data available such as pot odds and % of drawing out to make your decisions. The second disappointment is that Hold Em genius isn’t an empirical odds calculator. In this department, it loses out significantly to Hold Em Indicator, I’d love to see a player tracking tool integrated with Hold Em Genius, but it’s not happening. That would really cause Hold Em Indicator to have some significant competition.

In conclusion Hold Em Genius is a great piece of software that can benefit any poker player, whether they may be a novice or a seasoned pro. It earns high regards for covering the essentials of online poker odds calculators and it offers some unique extras. If you’re interested in - top hands or drawing out odds than Holdem Genius is for you, it is the only Odds Calculator I am aware of that offers these metrics. In addition - Holdem Genius places hand probability right on the poker table and you can play multiple tables at once while using the software. The best thing about Hold Em Genius is that you can get it for FREE, all you have to do is to sign-up to an online poker room of your choice through their website , seems like a good deal when playing poker is the whole purpose of using the tool. Try it, and if you don’t like it you haven’t lost anything.

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

How to Play Poker Sit-N-Gos - Taking Advantage of Players Trying to Reach The Money

When many players come into Sit-N-Go’s, they just have one thing in mind which is making the money. Many players will just sit there and play hardly any hands, until they actually are in the money. They avoid the action early on unless they have a monster hand. If you notice one of these players, take notes on them and think about what they may be holding before you commit almost all your chips against them.

Players that play solely for any place in the money typically sit back and watch others knock each other out. Once they get in the money they will start to loosen up, constantly trying to double up often or they will continue to play tight and hope that the other two in the money will knock each other out before their blinds are ate up.

A lot of people ask, “What is the best strategy to use if you’re just trying to make the money?” The answer to this question is to play very tight throughout the Sit-N-Go tournament. In most Sit-N-Go’s you will enter, you will play and win just enough hands early on to give you a chip stack to last you throughout the tournament. So it’s wise to play tight until the money and then once you reach the money you should GREATLY loosen up your game. Understand that you are already in the money, so if you can double up once or twice and even knock out a person, then it’s smooth sailing from here to win. Obviously, you can’t be guaranteed first every time. It just isn’t gonna happen. Bad beats are a part of poker, being able to not tilt is another.

Here are some more great tips in securing first place in a Sit-N-Go. When you play for first place you must remember that to become a winning Sit-N-Go player, you will have to shoot for first place every time rather than just worrying about making the money. Trying to just hold on to make 3rd place and into the money will not cut it if that’s your general outlook on the situation. Clearly, sometimes you will have a huge chip lead over the other players and you have nothing other than first in mind, but what I am talking about is when you’re sitting at the lower to middle end of tournament chips. You must always remember that the house usually takes a pretty big portion of every Sit-N-Go buy in, 10% which is kind of ridiculous. If you try making 3rd and that is it, your profits won’t be very much and you will not be able to make a living playing Sit-N-Go’s with this mindset. You have to mentally prepare yourself for first every time! A first place finish usually pays 2-3 times more than third so just because you make it into the money you CAN’T LET UP!

To win first, you’re going to have to mix in a tight game plan with aggressive play, but still play smart at all times. You need to play tight in the early stages, while still taking chances as well. Since the blinds during this time will be minute, you can take more chances and if you happen to lose a large part of your stack then the blinds still will not threaten your stack. When I say CHANCES, I mean favorable chances, such as a flush draw with over cards, open ended, etc…I see this a lot on Full Tilt Poker or Paradise Poker.

Remember, your goal is to build your chips in the middle stage to prepare for the final stage. Once you develop a comfortable stack, you can boss around the table and force people out when you’re normally couldn’t. It will be better to go out early than to bubble by trying to hold on until third place. There is nothing wrong with third place, I mean you are still making money; it just takes 3 third place wins to equal the profit of one first place win. Just remember, poker is unpredictable the way the cars fall, and sometimes the hands go your way and they don’t. You may have to wait until the middle round before you even get a hand to start building your stack for the late stages.

To win first, you’re going to have to mix in a tight game plan with aggressive play, but still play smart at all times. Punish your opponent for bluffing and show them who is boss. Practice, Practice, Practice…you CAN’T get enough of this. Learn poker, every aspect of it. Online Texas Holdem provides lots of excitement for a passionate poker player especially if you’re winning time after time. Knowing your poker odds heads up will also cause you lots of success.