If you sometimes experience brain freeze deciding whether or not to call, raise or fold your cards, you can now take advantage of BetOnline´s free poker odds calculator to help you with tricky decisions. Not only might it help you win a few bucks, but you will also get insights into your opponents´ betting tendencies.
If you are a regular visitor to USAFriendlyPokerSites.com, you may be aware of my poker mantra “player, position, cards” – meaning knowing your opponents´ betting tendencies and playing from position is more important than the cards you have been dealt. Consequently I was less than enthusiastic when I saw BetOnline had launched a free poker odds calculator.
However, BetOnline´s poker calculator does a lot more than just tell you the odds of winning a hand or the number of outs you have. It is actually quite a comprehensive tool that can give you a significant advantage at the tables and provides a history of your playing statistics for you to improve your game. Overall, I like it and I think most players will too.
How to Start Using the Poker Odds Calculator
The free poker odds calculator is available for both Windows and Mac OS and can be downloaded from the BetOnline.ag site. The download and installation process takes just a few minutes and it is recommended you shut the BetOnline Poker client while you are installing the calculator software to make sure the installation process runs smoothly.
Once the installation process is finished, open the calculator before opening the poker client. Then you can either use the calculator to find an open table for you, or select one from the cash game lobby. The calculator also works for tournaments and in play money games if you want to familiarize yourself with the software before using it to play real money poker.
If you start/join subsequent tables, the calculator can be configured to automatically launch on every table you start/join. You can also change views, switch between player stats and hand odds, or just use the HUD element of the software and hide the odds calculator display. Unfortunately, the free poker odds calculator only currently works for games of NL Hold´em.
What Features Does the Calculator Have?
In terms of the calculator display, you can see with one glimpse your win odds and pot odds. You can see the number of outs you have plus the percentage chance you will improve your hand compared with that of your opponents. The calculator also displays the Expected Value (EV) of your hole cards and gives them a rating based on Sklansky Groups and your position.
If you switch to the “Player Stats” display, you will be able to see information about your opponent that can help you determine whether they are a tight or loose player, their “aggressiveness factor”, and how often they will fold in the blinds if faced by a raise in the pre-flop action. You can assign profiling icons to each player in order to accelerate the decision-making process.
The stats can be viewed with the calculator minimized via an HUD and are automatically stored to your computer. They can be filtered or organized in whatever way suits you best, and reviewed offline or at any time while you are playing to help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent, and to help you take advantage of this information the next time you face a tricky decision.
Try the Free BetOnline Poker Odds Calculator Today
There are plenty of other tools I have not yet mentioned that can help you enjoy more lucrative sessions and improve your game (Hand replayers, stats graphs, etc.). The calculator also has a handy user guide I recommend you copy and paste from the BetOnline website into a Word document to keep by your side until you are familiar with the configuration and operation of the software.
As I mentioned above, I like this tool and I think most players will too. So, even if you are already using HUD software, visit BetOnline Poker today, download the free poker odds calculator and see what you think. At worse it will help you with some tricky decisions. At best it could give you an insight into the betting tendencies of your opponents that gives you a huge advantage at the tables. Enjoy.
