By
TranceMaker
When
I attended the WPT Boot Camp in New York this past summer, they
included one of the most useful tools in learning Texas Hold'em
No-Limit and/or Limit Poker,
Poker Academy. At that time, it was the
first release, regular version. I liked the basic but I was very happy
when I upgraded to the full "Pro" version, 2.0.
There are many things to like about
Poker Academy Pro:
If
you like playing online SnG's, you can practice for free against good
to bad players. And, since you don't have to wait for the players to
think, you can use the "Auto-Zip" mode to zoom to the end of the hand
(after you've folded your hand) — allowing you to play a full
Sit-and-Go in about 20-30 minutes. I love this when I want to play
poker, but I just don't have the time to do a "real" game online.
The
Tournaments in
PA Pro 2.0 also simulate such events as the WPT, the
WSOP, your local bar or home game... whatever. You can tweak the games
to simulate any Multi-Table Tournament, live or online, Limit or
No-Limit, so that you can practice your game.
It keeps track of
your stats, too. You'll know how well you did in your
Poker Academy
tournaments, cash games and even PA Online games you play with other
Poker Academy users. All the stats are there to look at including hand
histories (you can even play these back in real time!), how much you've
won/lost against other Bot players, and much more.
With the
Poker Academy Online section, you can play against real players who
also own PA. Now, many may think, "Well, I can always play for free
online, and most of them are bad players, etc." I found that the people
playing on PA Online are those that invested in the program and are
learning to play the game well. Some games online can be challenging,
but they are always fun (with chat, too). Really, it's not like playing
online with play money; it's much better!
The Bots on
Poker Academy are based on the Poki Bot, the most advanced artificial
intelligence available to simulate a poker player. If you're a
beginner-intermediate player, they can be quite a challenge. You can
even program the Bots yourself. It's not easy, but if you are so
inclined, you can create some amazing "custom" simulations for yourself.
Some additional benefits:
* Play heads-up simulations. (With the Auto-Zip, you can play zillions of these!)
* Practice playing different scenarios — you can input the hands you want to play with and practice "what-if's".
*
Help from the "Advisor" who can tell you the pot-odds, evaluate thehand
and even what your next move should be. Great for the beginning player.
* Constant updates and amazing customer support. (I am very impressed with this company.)
There are some important differences between the basic "Standard" and the "Pro" versions. In
the Standard version you can't simulate a house rake for Ring games,
play the cards face-up, stack the deck & run drills, view draws for
a hand, see your player stats (except for basic statistics), create
custom online tables or private online tables. If you don't need all
that, get the regular one. For me, I just got the Pro version... it's
the best.
To check out this software click here :
Poker Academy Pro