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What Every True Grinder Needs In Their Toolbox

If you're not using a tracking/stats program today, then you've stumbled upon one of the best articles you'll ever read regarding poker tools. We're about to talk about one of the best investments you'll make in your poker-playing career. We're not talking about that time you bought five hookers (6 if you count the midget) for your buddies that night in Vegas. We're talking about software that can track not only your play but that of your opponents as well. Pretty damn powerful stuff when it's used properly (just like condoms!).

I'll Be In My Office If You Need Me

Most True Grinders use Poker Office to track their stats as well as their opponents. While other software applications on the market compete with Poker Office, 3 out 4 Grinders polled said they recommend this particular poker tool. For the price of a back rub with a happy ending, you can own this package and use the output to further refine your game. If you're serious about grinding it out at the poker table, this is your first purchase. Period. Learn More About Poker Office

While Poker Office is great for review and real time stats (with the screen overlay feature), there are other free tools available to help you raise your game. One tool that comes in handy when playing SNG's and MTT's is the ICM calculator. Essentially what this nifty little doo-dad does is calculate your current equity in a tournament based on your chip stack and helps you make better decisions as the bubble approaches.

Poker Table Ratings - Get The Inside Scoop On Your Opponents

PokerTableRatings.com lets you see advanced stats on any online poker player in an easy-to-use format. It gives you two ways to get an edge on your opponents: (1) Hand histories and (2) PTR Premium Features. You can buy hand histories and import them into Hold’em Manager or PokerTracker to turbo-charge your database. Both cash game and SNG hands are available from all the major poker sites. PTR Premium shows you incredible detail about a player’s style, aggression, winrate and tons of other statistics. It also lets you find the softest tables and keep track of your favorite fish with a buddy list, which sends you instant alerts when they site down at a table. The alerts can be set up to be sent to your email or via SMS to your phone. Learn More About Poker Table Ratings

Calculatem - The Top Selling Poker Odds Calculator

This long time horse is still finishing first in the race. Texas Calculatem continues to be the hottest selling poker odds calculator online and for good reason. It uses sophisticated Auto-Read technology which offers players hand odds and betting advice in real-time which takes the guess work out of playing poker. Learn More About Calculatem

Holdem Genius - Still A Front Runner

Holdem Genius makes you feel like a genius alright. This advanced poker calculator offers some great features such as getting instant poker betting advice based on your hole cards, your pot odds, your immediate outs, and much more! If you want to feel like a genius, start playing like one and use Holdem Genius

SitnGo Shark - Dont Be Shark Bait

It's true what they say, if your not the shark your shark bait. Developed by poker pro Roy Rounder, SitNGo Shark poker odds calculator works exclusively on sit n go poker tournaments and uses 7 different variables on every single hand to offer the player betting advice in real time. If you want to finish in the money consistently then SitnGo Shark is a no brainer.

What's Cookin?

Poker Stove is another great tool that's 100% free. Essentially what Poker Stove allows you to do is analyze real world situations. In other words, most poker odds calculators assume that you know what your opponent is holding. However, even if you're able to put your opponent on a hand like pocket Kings, there's no way to know the suits (which increases or decreases their drawing odds based on the board). Poker Stove uses some sort of crazy, rocket-science type math to figure that all out for you. Another free must-try tool.

Can You Swim With The Sharks?

If you're a SNG player then Shark Scope is another free must have tool. If you're sitting down at a new table and see a new player that you don't have notes or stats on, try entering their player name into Shark Scope. This web based tool will give you're their win/loss percentage and lifetime ROI at major sites like Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars. There's a free version that allows 5 free searches per day and paid options that allow many more. This information can more than pay for itself to know whether you have a rock or a fish seated to your left.

Summary

At the end of the day these poker tools are only as good as the system that they're a part of. Even the best power saw from Home Depot is worthless without a knowledgeable user who can make good cuts, etc. It's no different when using these poker tools. So take the time to learn how they can help you with your game. Implement them as a system for in-game stats as well as post-game review. You have to learn from your mistakes in poker and you WILL make many mistakes. Hopefully leveraging these types of tools will help you in your quest to become a True Grinder.