Poker Articles

By N 82 50 24 | Published Dec 19 2005, 03:24 AM

My Online Poker Setup By Nat aka N 82 50 24

I'll admit it, I'm a gadget junkie. Pretty much any new tech toy gets added to my collection as soon as it comes out. Naturally, this enthusiasm for all things tech-related has carried over to my online poker setup. I happen to think it's pretty sweet so I'll share it with my fellow pocketfivers.



In order of importance:
1.Monitor(s)
1a.graphics card
2.Chair
3.Mouse
4.Extras

1.The most important component in your computer setup is your monitor(s) – and there's not even a close second.

I have a fairly common dual monitor setup with two 20" Dell 2001FP LCD screens ($500/ea).



Why are these monitors so common? It's a simple reason: They support 1600x1200 pixel resolution, which allows four tables to fit on one screen without overlap. I doubt you'll find a cheaper 1600x1200 LCD monitor solution out there that has DVI (digital) and RGB (analog) inputs, along with 4 USB ports per monitor. They're just a great value. Buying a 17" or 19" LCD monitor, which will likely be without 1600x1200 resolution, is really a waste of money if you are buying the monitor for poker.

1a. An important decision when you're considering what monitor(s) to buy is your video card. If you get two or more monitors, you'll need a video card capable of outputting to more than one screen. Usually, these are referred to as "dual-monitor capable" video cards, so it shouldn't be too hard to figure out which ones will work. Virtually all dual monitor capable video cards will be able to support two monitors at 1600x1200 resolution, but you should check on this before you buy. However, it's somewhat rare to find a video card that will support a Dual DVI output. It's much more common to find ones that support one DVI and one RGB, but that doesn't matter as you likely won't notice a difference when you plug them in. Don't ask me why the video card companies do this as it doesn't make sense to me either. I have $100 NVIDIA GeForce dual monitor video card. Another good company to think about buying a video card from is ATI as their lineup of Radeon video cards is excellent.

2. Chair
Although you rarely hear people talking about seating, I feel your chair is the second-most important item in an online poker setup. It's really important to be comfortable, and sitting on something without arms or without the proper cushioning could actually hurt your game considerably. Poker is game that favors people with emotional control and there's no need for a wobbly chair to put you on tilt – no pun intended. I happen to have a premier chair: the Herman Miller Aeron ($800). The seat and back of the Aeron chair are made of a virtually unbreakable mesh material that provides an incredible level of comfort and breathability. Although you may not realize it, your typical chair traps heat and is generally uncomfortably hot to sit in after a few minutes. Not so with the Aeron mesh material. You can sit in it for hours while remaining perfectly comfortable and ready to play your best.

3.The third most important item is your mouse. If you use a laptop, you are well-advised to attach a mouse to it. In my experience, the use of a laptop mouse touchpad will likely lead to many costly misclicks – even more so if you're multi-tabling. I have a Sony VAIO laptop that I use for when I'd like to play away from my main station. Also, if you're still in the stone-age, you might have a mouse that actually has a wheel in it. The best mice today use what's known as laser pointers that will work on virtually any surface, glass included. Laser pointers are a moderate step up from the more common optical mice, although optical mice are still acceptable in my mind.


I use a Logitech MX-1000 laser mouse ($70), which has a number of useful, although not essential features. For one, I use a program called AutoHotKey to write scripts that allow me to assign the extra buttons on my mouse to a certain action. This means that I can use the back and forward buttons to fold or bet. It's very useful for playing a lot of limit games. In addition, because the MX-1000 is wireless, I always keep a wired optical mouse attached to my computer because the wireless could lose its connection or the battery could die unexpectedly (although the MX-1000 does have a battery life indicator).



4.Extras
The last item that I use to help my poker game is my set of Bose Quietcomfort2 headphones ($300). They have noise-canceling technology that recognizes external noise and emits a frequency to cancel it out. It's an amazing engineering accomplishment in my opinion. It's much easier to concentrate and really get in the zone to play poker when I'm wearing these. I tend to forget about what is going on around me and just focus on the game at hand, which is tremendously helpful in bringing out my A game.

I have a few other gadgets in my computer setup, but the items that I've laid out above are among the best hardware you can have for playing your best poker online. If you have any questions, google can answer most of them. If google fails you, you can PM me and I'll try to point you in the right direction. Good luck at the tables.