If you are new to poker, or even if you are an accomplished live poker player, it is sensible to get a bit of practice in on your computer before you start playing for real at your favourite online casino.
Luckily there are a number of software vendors that supply poker games and simulators which will provide a very similar experience to that of playing at on online table. Of course they vary in quality both in terms of their graphics and player interface and their playing strength. They also vary from being freeware or shareware to being quite expensive. In addition there are also some very sophisticated open-source programmes in development that you can contribute to if you have sufficient software development skills.
In addition to games software a number of software tools are available that will help you to improve your game. Typical of these are odds calculators, tournament databases. Odds calculators are essentially simulators that use a variety of statistical methods to compare the probability of each hand winning at each stage of the game and tournament databases are compilations of the playing habits of online players that are compiled using various data mining techniques. Some of these are legitimate and some are not, depending on how they are used.
There is also a variety of poker bots. Poker bots are pieces of software that are able to play online directly, in effect replacing a person whilst pretending it is a human player. In fact most online casinos justifiably ban the use of certain tools during play. In particular this applies to Poker Bots and mining information on players without their permission. Whist casinos do not have a problem with their members using tools that might give them an advantage; they differentiate this from what they define as an unfair advantage, which is generally taken to mean concealment. In fact online casinos have fairly sophisticated methods to check if poker bots are being used, including checking the players computer whilst they are playing online. They will justifiably close the accounts of players who use them.
By stickystebee
If you are new to poker, or even if you are an accomplished live poker player, it is sensible to get a bit of practice in on your computer before you start playing for real at your favourite online casino.