Poker Calculator Report: Hold'em Indicator, A New Standard

If you have ever read my review of Poker Indicator, you will know that I thought it had great potential, save for a few important draw backs that kept it from competing with the market leaders in this category. Holdem Indicator now succeeds Poker Indicator and not only that, has zoomed to the top of the class of empirical poker calculators market wide.

With a lot of new calculator software being introduced rapidly, I have tested virtually all of them only to find numerous programming quirks that had to be noted so that I knew which one would work with which site, and on which computer! Poker Indicator always worked smoothly and never suffered from over-programming. Holdem Indicator does just that as well, seamlessly flowing into every poker site I tried it on. New in this software is a mini view option that just squeaks under your site window if you just want the basic information in a handy spot. Why can't all poker calculators be this flawless?

When using Holdem Indicator you get the distinct notion that the software designers actually play poker and understand layout and design, as much as odds in the game itself. Especially valuable in this software is the odds display that shows two vital things - your odds of winning the pot, and your pot odds when a bet is put to you. If you have ever had trouble laying down hands, this feature alone will save you the cost of this calculator in one .25/.50 cent session at Full Tilt Poker. Seriously. You can change the odds display to percentage or ratio whatever your preference, but for poker ratio is the way to go as it easily compares your pot odds. When a bet is put to you, and one of these indicators is significantly larger than the other, take a closer look before your next move. For example if your pot odds are a decent 4 to 1, but your odds to win are 22 to 1, then your juicy pot odds don’t really matter, and you should muck.

There has also been a great design improvement in the visibility of your hole card display versus the flop. No need for color decks any more. This is as clear as graphics can be. And when you hole cards do show, they are accompanied by a convenient “out” window showing cards you will need to hit, and the familiar Sklansky hand rank system showing what groups your hole cards fall into further enforcing playing with cards of strength. Hey, there is a reason ten-deuce off suit is group 9.

Empirical means that this poker calculator can help you keep track of your opponents, even if you are not. You can actually monitor a table before you sit at it, or keep track of players while you sit out for a period. The opponent stats window will indicate a player's profile based on several calculations including VPIP, aggression, and show downs wins. After collecting 50 hands of data, Hold’em Indicator will assign a graphic image to you and your opponents. Some interesting icons include a time bomb, eagle, elephant, fish and yield sign. While the software is collecting this, it is also summing the table as a whole giving you a snap shot of the action.

Holdem Indicator is the new standard in Empirical Poker Calculators and works with all of the best sites including Full Tilt Poker.

Marty Smith is webmaster of http://www.PokerCalculatorReport.com where all the online poker calculators are tested and reviewed, including Sit and Go Shark, Calculatem Pro, and Poker Spy. He is also editor of http://www.PokerBookReport.com