When it comes to poker, any player has the same goal—becoming the best at their game. Whether you’re a recreational player who plays weekly tournaments with friends, a novice trying his luck at a casino or a professional grinding the tables for a living, it doesn’t matter. In the end, you want to improve to win more, in the best way possible.
The era of reading books and watching tutorial videos is long gone. Recent studies indicate the best way to master a skill is through hands-on experience, and that’s where poker training apps step in. They effortlessly combine theoretical material with actual practice. The result? You get an authentic poker experience as you play and get feedback on your decisions. With that in mind, let’s delve into some of the poker training apps you can use.
1. Poker Fighter
Taking the jewel in the poker training apps’ crown, Poker Fighter stirred up the poker training arena through its fun, thorough and holistic training experience. The app targets micro and low stakes poker, with bet limits of $0.25-$0.50 for online games and $1-$2 for live casino games. Plus, the training material for low, medium, and high stakes is different. So, an app claiming to cater to the needs of all levels of players would be an outright lie.
Poker Fighter uses a strong AI engine to develop a structured way to learn poker with its many gamified levels. It walks the player from the pre-flop group to the river. To get to the flop level, you’ll first have to clear all the pre-flop levels. Likewise, you can’t play the next level if you haven’t finished all the flop levels.
A built-in leaderboard also allows you to compare your score to your social media friends or the worldwide platform. Moreover, your avatar will evolve as you clear more levels and gain higher scores—starting with a small fish and eventually becoming a mighty poker shark.
2. Insta Poker
Another exciting poker training app to look out for is Insta Poker. The app mainly targets cash games and offers hand packs of 10 hands, each created by veteran poker players such as Jonathan Little and Antonio Esfandiari. Most hand packs delve into a specific poker subject, and you’ll be able to play full poker hands with feedback and explanations.
A peek through the app shows its target audience are semi-experienced players. All in all, Insta Poker provides excitement and a worthy learning experience, but be ready for a hefty price tag. The app deals with shorthand packs for $5-$10 per pack, and we advise you to check out the preview pack. That way, you’ll get a feel of their training style before purchasing more packages.
3. Advanced Poker Training
Advanced Poker Training may not offer a mobile version, but its desktop version comes with a fascinating AI engine and an intuitive user interface. Different training scenarios are on offer for both cash games and tournaments. They include 6-max tables, 9-max tables, Sit N’ Gos, and multi-table tournaments.
The program employs a strategy where it adapts to your playing style while trying to exploit your weakness. Plus, there’s an option that allows you to select the play style of your poker advisor. For instance, if you’re an attentive and cautious player, you don’t want to get advice from a carefree advisor. In the long run, having a specific advisor will help you devise a straightforward poker strategy allowing you to bet correctly and bluff where necessary.
4. Tournament Poker Coach
The creators of Insta Poker also take credit for coming up with Tournament Poker Coach, which offers the same concept. However, its targets are tournaments rather than cash games. Some of their hand packs are pretty interesting and can help newbies grasp essential tournament tips.
Like Insta Poker, Tournament Poker Coach comes with a hefty price tag for short packs. So it’s better to first have a go with a few packages at first before acquiring more.
5. PokerSnowie
PokerSnowie draws inspiration from Backgammon Snowie’s success in the board game Backgammon. In a bid to replicate Backgammon Snowie’s success, PokerSnowie came up with an engaging poker AI engine. But there’s a slight catch. Their engine, ‘black box,’ only tells you the action you take—whether to bet, call or raise but not the reason.
Ideally, PokerSnowie’s AI can work as a tough poker bot. As a player, it’s preferable to have some strong poker knowledge before realizing the whole experience of the app.
Poker Training Apps Are The Way To Go
Whether you’re a novice or experienced player, learning poker has never been easy. With some of the training apps mentioned above, you’ll improve your win rate in the many sites to play poker. Think of simple tips, when to bet, fold, call, or bluff—poker training apps will be your new guide.