What separates good poker players from the bad ones? Simple – it’s lots and lots of studying. Popular cardsharks such as Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu didn’t earn their fame through sheer luck alone. They have lost many games, they have pored over hundreds of poker books, they have slaved over calculators and memorized common hand scenarios in their head. What you don’t see on TV is the humongous amount of hard work that these players have put in behind the scenes.
So, how can a budding poker student deal with this much information? Thankfully, technology has provided us with some helpful apps that can take their game to the next level. Here are some of the best ones:
1. TableScan Turbo
The app does what it says on the tin: it scans for tables according to a user’s preferences in online poker rooms. No need to manually select tables on your own. The app can work across multiple online lobbies (for those who like to play on multiple sites), pull up player statistics, and presents this information to you in an easy-to-understand table format all at the same time.
2. Equilab
Equity calculators used to be in the realm of premium poker software which you need to shell out money for. Thankfully Equilab is here to provide a free alternative. This freeware offers fast range-versus-range and multiplayer calculations, plus a whole other host of output options. Equilab also provides a scenario analyzer and a hand selection tool.
3. E.gg Timer
If you’re a fan of the Pomodoro Technique and other time-boxing productivity methods, then this nifty website is right for you. Users can customize the timer according to their needs or choose from a number of pre-set timers like the aforementioned Pomodoro (25 minutes and a five minute interval) or the morning exercise timer (to get your heart pumping in the morning!). Perfect when you want to keep track of the time you spent studying.
4. MindMup
MindMup is an intuitive and easy-to-use interface makes mindmapping a whole lot easier. The web app runs fast – no fancy settings or graphics. It’s the perfect tool for quick study sessions or organizing your thoughts on-the-go. If you want to visualize hand scenarios or produce mind maps for strategies you want to implement – this is the app to use.
5. Google News
Outdated knowledge is useless knowledge. To keep abreast of the latest poker news and developments you have to be in the know. Google News is a great resource for poker news sourced from around the globe. Create an e-mail alert for the search term “poker” and have the news delivered straight to your inbox without any fuss.
6. Remember the Milk
Remember the Milk helps you remember every single task you can think off (not just milk). It’s one of the web’s most popular apps for task management. It provides a high-tech touch to your old to-do lists with features such as multi-device synchronization, automatic reminders and a very capable search function