21 Mar 2014
Posted by admin 
MMonths ago, ADANAI profiled ten mobile apps to improve your nightlife experience. As with nightlife, technology has positively impacted another illustrious enterprise – poker. For years, the credo all you need is a chip and a chair actually meant, all you have is a chip and a chair to keep you occupied during long sessions at the Golden Nugget.
When smartphones gained popularity, poker rooms tried very hard at first to keep players from using them while seated. There’s no stopping technology’s pervasiveness though. Look inside any poker room across the world today and you’ll see several players looking down at their phones. Small stacks probably put themselves at a disadvantage by texting or playing Candy Crush, but the savvy know to take advantage of a number of apps essential for any serious live poker player.
The best poker apps, in no particular order, are:
Poker Journal
Funny how every poker player claims to be a winning player. It just doesn’t make sense when you think about it. Given poker is a zero sum game – less than zero after accounting for the rake – one player’s win means another’s loss. Somebody has to lose so somebody must be lying.
If you play poker on a regular basis, it is very important to record your results in order to keep yourself honest about your wins and losses. Michael Golden’s Poker Journal allows you to do so in a very user friendly way. Before each session, input where you’re playing, how you’re playing (tournament vs. cash), what you’re playing (i.e. Omaha vs. Hold’em) and how much you’re playing for (the stakes). If you rebuy, track that too and when it is time to cash out, your session results are fully recorded.
Poker Journal allows you to filter the data by a number of variables. Interested in how you play at certain casinos? Think you play better later at night than during the day? Check the data. You can also create cool line charts showing whether or not you improve over time.
Poker Journal is one of the best poker apps because it tells you the most important thing about your poker skills: are you making money?
The next skeptic who asks about your poker chops, just whip out Poker Journal and show them the proof positive. Or, if you see yourself losing a bunch of money, invest in a few more poker books. The full version of the app is $12.99 and worth every dime.
PokerCruncher
Most decent poker players can tell you that pocket Aces are about a 4-1 favorite over any two undercards. How about the chances of hitting a flush draw with two cards to go? Expect to catch your card around 35% of the time. The quick trick of calculating your odds is to multiply your number of “outs” by four with two cards to go and by two with one card to go. A useful arsenal tool to be sure, but just like life, poker ain’t always that simple.
PokerCruncher helps you check the win percentages of various situations against each player’s hand and the community cards. You can even enter hand ranges for your opponents and see how your hand plays out. It is a great way to reconfirm your thought process during a hand.
Running these scenarios can also be great for learning. One of the biggest strategy leaks of relatively new poker players is chasing weak draws. Poker Cruncher can show you the exact difference between drawing to the “nuts” and drawing “dead.” Learning that a flush draw with two over cards on the flop is a favorite versus a pair will make you more than enough money in the long run to cover the $4.99 Poker Cruncher costs you.
BravoPokerLive
The BravoPokerLive app from Genesis Gaming Solutions epitomizes the problem solving importance of technology. One of the age-old problems of the degenerate poker player is finding a game. BravoPokerLive locates the nearest legal games based on your GPS location. The free app also gives you a live update of games happening at most poker rooms.
Check out this scenario: you are sitting at a table in Las Vegas nightclub XS having a blast but all of a sudden you get the urge to play poker (another sign you are a real degen). Your game of choice is 5/10 No-Limit Hold’em. Instead of leaving the club and walking over to the Wynn poker room, you can check your app to see if there’s a game going and what the waitlist looks like. No game going? Pour yourself another vodka red bull and get back to partying. Without the app, you’d end up empty handed at the poker room and potentially make the negative expected value decision to stop by a Blackjack or Craps table.
ShareMyPair
Poker players love recapping hands and bad beat stories are the stuff of poker lore. Pragmatically speaking, recaps create great learning opportunities. Many players have colleagues they look to for feedback. Typically this happens in an informal way via text, Twitter or over a beer, where the facts around the hand can be blurred. The new app ShareMyPair, from Card Shark Media, makes hand recapping easier and more accurate.
Input the hand as it played out and ShareMyPair creates a mini video of the hand for others to view. The free app is linked to Facebook so you can easily share your hand with your social media friends (you can also share with the public). People then have the opportunity to comment on the hand and provide feedback. Phil Hellmuth has started using it. Hopefully, more pros will follow suit so the public has a chance to study how they thought about particularly interesting or crucial hands.
Twitter
Not an app, but a must-have nonetheless.
The large amount of inactivity at the table happens to be conducive to Tweeting, so the poker community is constantly producing new real-time content. Hellmuth and Daniel Negreanu Tweet constantly during tournaments, creating many interesting learning opportunities. Imagine a similar equivalent of Lebron James or Peyton Manning Tweeting right after a crucial play.
On top of that, many members of the poker community use Twitter on a regular basis to discuss strategy, rules and various issues impacting the game. Following the conversation can be quite entertaining if not educational.
For example, there is a debate raging within the poker community on the inclusion of super high roller events in the Player of the Year rankings. Some believe it’s not fair to include events that most can’t afford.
To GPI: world rankings pts should NOT be issued for $100K tourns w 70 players! Not fair to good/great players that cannot afford to play
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 27, 2014
No more deflecting, Yes or no Daniel? RT @phil_hellmuth @RealKidPoker do you think $50,000 or higher HR and SHR should be included in GPI? — phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 27, 2014
@phil_hellmuth I already answered that question immediately. I said all events over $300 should count, the question is: for how much.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 27, 2014
@RealKidPoker TY for answer. Bottom line: I feel poker skill is different then money management skill AND raising money to play HR skill
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 27, 2014
@phil_hellmuth I’m sure there are lots of great players who can’t afford $10k events, by your logic, should $10ks not count either?
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 27, 2014
@RealKidPoker my logic tells me HR eliminate over 99% of the poker players, and that the 1% (you and a few others) have an edge in GPI
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) February 27, 2014
The numbers don’t lie: http://t.co/1Mxx2v59RD high rollers count for a minimal amount of points and have little effect on the rankings. — Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) February 28, 2014
If you are looking to add a little poker knowledge to your Twitter feed, here are a few really good follows:
@realkidpoker (poker pro Daniel Negreanu Tweets about the industry, interesting hands and how he manages his life)
@Phil_Hellmuth (poker pro Phil Hellmuth provides a lot of insight into how he prepares for each of his tournaments)
@PhilGalfond (poker pro Phil Galfond provides great poker strategy)
@TexDolly (poker legend Doyle Brunson reflects on the poker industry and the 78-year-old gives great life advice)
@SavagePoker (World Poker Tour Tournament director Matt Savage)
@WSOPTD (World Series of Poker Director Jack Eiffel)
@AgentMarco (lots of great information about online poker regulation from ADANAI’s friend Marco Valerio)
