TheHoldemPirate

Marty Smith asked:


Most online players already know that Poker Stars is the runaway market share leader for online poker sites. They consistently have the most tables running, the most tournaments running and send the most qualifiers to live major buy-in tournaments.

What a lot of players may not know though is that Poker Stars also leads the way in defining security, safety and fairness for its players. So much so that other sites generally follow in fashion, trying to keep up with the strict policies that the security staff at Poker Stars diligently design in these increasingly important arenas of online gaming security.

You can imagine that Poker Stars would have their hands full of internal gaming issues to take care of, but security also involves third party software that either extracts database information or offers BOT-like recommendations to players rounding the tables at Poker Stars. “Bot” is a poker term used for assist software that makes a check, raise, or fold suggestion to the player using the software. Robot is the key underlying suggestion here, and to Poker Stars, software that removes the human element and runs purely on the calculating prowess of some fantastical, mathematical, electronic HAL, well is simply not fair play.

You might wonder why Stars may be concerned about BOTs given there isn’t a truly profitable BOT machine out there that is beating games online anyway. (Oh sorry, you mean you fell for that underground poker ad?) The problem Stars is mainly addressing right now is BOT like features within otherwise acceptable poker software. Take Magic Hold’em for instance. This software, seemingly another copy of a generic Mathematical Poker Calculator with some nice graphics thrown in was recently banned from Poker Stars because of a single feature it added to its software.

That feature is a Check, Raise, or Fold recommendation to the user. Exactly the same thing a full-fledged BOT would conceivably be doing. I can see why Magic Hold’em wanted to add some value to their otherwise homogenous product as it would be tough to claim it was any better than any other out-dated mathematical poker calculator. The problem though, is that they didn’t consult the big sites before they did it. Poker Stars doesn’t want to shut out third party software completely, but they have a vested interest in keeping their tables - fair play tables.

Thus, that one single feature has got Magic Holdem on the prohibited list at Poker Stars, and now its biggest challenge will be to get removed from that list. Notwithstanding the BOT feature has limited use and success anyway, Magic Hold’em could likely make it easier on themselves to recreate and rebrand a new product altogether, as getting removed from Stars’ prohibited list is something that hasn’t been done before.



tournament indicator

Marty Smith asked:


One of the most difficult aspects of playing poker successfully is learning how to deal with aggressive players. This is especially true for newer players who haven’t acquired the experience to play against such players with the proper emotional detachment. What usually follows is an impatient or ill-timed counter-attack that is actually a well executed trap by the aggressor.

If you have a poker calculator, that kind of situation can be avoided by knowing exactly what the Aggression Factor (AF) of your opponent is, and what it means. If you use Holdem Indicator or Tournament Indicator the formula for aggression factor is AF = (Raise% + Bet %) / Call %. Now what this actually represents is aggression after the flop only so therefore also includes betting for the turn and river. Keep in mind that pre-flop raising has its own distinct category.

In essence the AF factor therefore shows the relationship between how many times a player bets and/or raises compared with how many times he simply calls. So let’s say an opponent’s AF is 2.0. Well that is on the aggressive side to be sure but what it represents (for example) is that the player raised 5 times, bet 6 times and called 6 times. So that’s (5+6)/6=1.83 rounded up to 2.0. So as you can see by doing the math, this player prefers to lead the betting and probably only calls with odds and in position.

This player is probably experienced and knows what he is doing. There is nothing wrong with having an AF in this range and if the player is advancing his stack, while not making apparent errors, you can probably be assured he is dangerous and will be trying to trap you into handing over your stack. With a player like this, you need to take away the betting from him by betting first or re-raising. This player wants to play small ball, and will not like you re-raising, or betting out of position, taking the pot size out of his comfort zone.

Let’s look at another player’s AF just to compare. How about 11.5? Yes, you can get that high, and even higher. This player, let’s call him WrecklessBob77, hardly ever just calls. If he is in a pot he is betting or raising the flop, no matter what. To get an AF this high WrecklessBob77 has bet 21 times and raised 13 times while only calling 3 times. That’s (21+13)/3=11.33 rounded to 11.5. Chances are the Holdem Indicator Poker Calculator has profiled this individual as a gambler because the AF factor is weighed into the profiling, along with VPIP and WSD percentages.

With a gambler that has that high and AF, he is simply playing with too much aggression, especially if you see him in the lower limits. The fact that he is still around is probably the result of winning some big pots in marginal situations, excessive luck, and weak opponents. Those things never last nearly long enough, and this player WILL bet himself out of the game or tournament. The savvy players at the table will be drooling over his stack, simply waiting patiently to trap this maniac and bring it in. That’s what you should do too while knowing your position on him every hand, but also realizing you need strong hands to play this guy, so as not to be another one of his bad beat victims.



tournament indicator

TurtleKnife asked:

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