Wed, 03/02/2011 – 23:15 – PokerPages Staff

Foremost in gaining poker success, the beginner poker player must have a solid foundation; the novice must have a comprehensive understanding of the poker rules and poker betting.  Beyond this groundwork, there are a multitude of tools and strategies that the beginner poker player should have in their arsenal.  While some poker players are not convinced that poker tools or programs improve game play, many online players are successfully using such software to beat their opponents. 

A Poker HUD (Heads Up Display), is a program that displays a poker statistics overlay on the online poker table.  Most good Poker HUDs have both a poker calculator and a tracker.  The poker calculator is a program that provides poker mathematics, such as odds, probabilities, outs, etc.  A poker tracker analyzes your game play and your opponent’s play, such as profitability and table style, betting and playing style.

Before employing such devices, do your research.  Make certain that the program is allowed on the poker site you are playing.  Also, make sure the program safe to install.

Poker bots are computer programs that play the game for you.  It is an automated program that is designed to replace the human player.  For most poker sites, the use of a poker bot constitutes cheating and is strictly forbidden.

Some poker programs can compromise your security.  Use only software from reputable companies. 

The use of legal poker software can greatly improve your play.  They are useful for decision making and trend analysis.  They should, however, be used as a supplement to good poker play based on the rules and the best strategies. 

If you are playing on PokerStars, check out Third Party Tools and Services FAQ.

To learn more, check out PokerSchoolOnline, the best source on the internet for poker related learning.  Then put those skills to work by playing for free at PokerStars.net.  Also, check out the PokerPages sections Poker Information and Poker Articles for more poker tips and strategies.