When you read professional poker players stories about how they learned the game you see a recurring pattern emerge. Most players stumbled into the game and then sought to progress through the stakes to play the best players. During the way they paid their tuition as they put it, in the form of losing sessions against better players. The players sought to learn from the mistakes they made that cost them money, but still incurred the losses to identify the problem. Poker players now have access to software programs that are available for you to play against AI opponents who give you a realistic poker game without causing a massive hole in your bankroll should you AI exploit a weakness in your game.

Whilst nothing beats the personal interaction of a professional player analysing your game, there is a good argument for you to analyse the basics yourself. If you are a player currently battling at the lower stakes games it makes sense not to shell out $100 per hour for a top coach when your win rate will only be a fraction of this even when you are running very well. There are a few poker programs that I have found useful, and you should consider checking them out if you want to learn poker.

Poker Academy is a well-known program that offers a Texas Holdem only partner. It offers a variety of tournament settings and cash games with a variety of AI opponents. Some of the computer opponents are hyper-aggressive whilst others mimic a more solid opponent. All of your statistics are logged and because you can fast forward hands you are not involved in, you can gain a picture of your standard of poker faster (and cheaper if you are a losing player) than in real life or online. If you are too loose pre-flop, too aggressive post flop, or you simply show down too many losing hands all of these statistics are readily available in a user friendly format.

For those of you who prefer the mixed games there are also programs that simulate opponents in the other popular games like Razz, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud and Draw Poker amongst others. This particular program charges per game so to buy each part of the software is a little costly. However, if you are a careful player that wishes to learn each game first before wagering your money in real games you may find the investment is worth it. In the non Holdem games there are money making opportunities especially online as the general standard of play is usually lower in cash games. Getting to grips with the games without risking your money is definitely recommended and the software helps you do this.

Be aware that when playing with software that the computer models of poker players are not perfect. Just because you crush the games with the software does not mean you will do so with real money. Congratulate yourself on developing a winning style for dealing with the software, but be aware that there is not one solution to having a winning poker game. You should certainly be in a better situation than a novice player; your experience of the hands played against the computer will be invaluable.

Poker continues to be played by generally competent opponents online and some of the governments like the USA are looking to make it harder for online gambling to occur. The player pool is getting smaller so anything you can do to get an advantage should be considered. Poker software is a cost effective way of identifying leaks in your game cheaply, so you learn without paying your real life opponents tuition money in the form of losses to teach you these lessons.