1. I know that the Wilson software is expensive, but I certainly have seen a return on my investment. I split the cost with a friend, and we've both played thousands of hands on them. My ability, especially in limit games, to make good value betting decisions and to recognize playing patterns quickly improved substantially through practice on Wilson.

If there is a free alternative, I'd love to try it.

Posted at 9:11PM on Oct 30th 2005 by EJ

2. This is probably a crappy analogy, but I think poker simulators are the card player's version of Dance Dance Revolution.

DDR will teach you a series of steps that you can mechanically perform to create something resembling dance. But, in order to beat the game, you don't have to actually dance -- all you have to do is make your feet hit the right pads in the right sequence every time.

If you work up some leet DDR skillz and then go out on the dance floor, you're probably going to look like a dork. Unless, of course, you somehow managed to learn actual dancing from the game, which is unlikely without real effort and study and possibly some tutoring from someone who knows how to dance.

Poker player AI can be very rational, and it can also be randomly irrational, but I don't think it can accurately simulate a human opponent. There is no personal satisfaction in outplaying a computer, and there is no shame in getting beaten by one either. AI doesn't go on tilt, and if it puts you on tilt then it doesn't matter because you won't be spewing real money all over the table.

Just like Dance Dance Revolution is a game that revolves around the mechanics of dancing, training on a poker AI will be limited to the mechanics of playing poker. Neither one involve much art.

So, what will a simulator teach you? Well, I think a good one will do a damn good job of teaching you how to grind out a few times the small blind per hundred hands in micro-limit ring games:

1> It will teach you the mechanics of online poker

2> It will teach you preflop hand strength and odds in every drawing situation. I haven't played one yet that specifically addressed implied pot odds estimation, but they can give you a seat-of-the-pants feel for it.

3> A good simulator can teach you to the basics of when it is smart to chase and when you should lay it down, and even get you started in bluffing randomly / calling bluffs randomly with appropriate frequency.

4> They will teach you how much of a factor luck (a.k.a. variance) actually is, which will probably be a big help when you eventually go on a three thousand hand downswing with real money.

Overall, a good simulator will teach you how to automatically make the correct action in all of the most commonly repeated situations you'll experience at a real Limit Holdem table. It will show you where your leaks are. After playing thirty to fify thousand hands on Poker Academy Pro ver. 2, you could probably sit down and immediately start grinding out a penny a hand at $0.25/$0.50 Limit Holdem online. It can probably sharpen your game at higher stakes as well, but since I'm a micro-limit player myself I don't really know.

What about No Limit and tournament play? Be careful. AI can play Limit better than No Limit. You can likely crush an entire table of No Limit playing bots easily. That would give you a false sense of your abilities, and at a $25 buyin NL table online you would be eaten alive.

Note that heads-up bots are much better training tools than tables full of full-ring or short-handed bots. But, most poker isn't heads-up, so take it for what it's worth.

For tournament play, the simulator may or may not even give you a pretty realistic representation of the beginning levels of play in a typical low-buyin online tourney. I've used DD Tournament Poker (version 1; I think a version 2 is available now), an inexpensive No Limit Holdem tournament simulator, as well as Poker Academy Pro ver. 2's tournament play.

DD seemed to accurately simulate the early levels, but later on there wasn't much of a sense that the competition was getting tougher and the play tightening up as you approach the bubble. That one can teach you of the value of playing a tight and aggressive game, and also give you a good sense of how much luck factors into tournament finishes. Version 2 might be far superior in this regard to the first edition.

Poker Academy Pro's tournament games seem way too tight in the beginning, as if the fields are full of decently skilled players who just aren't prone to the crazy all-ins and quick bustouts that plague online tournaments even at the $100 buyin levels. Winning a simulated tournament here takes more than just patience, aggression, and luck, though. It won't teach you how to do well in turbo satellites or $5 online rebuys, but I think it can give you a leg up on tournament play where the buyin is a little more significant and the competition generally won't be willing to throw all their chips into the pot on a pure gamble.

Posted at 1:34AM on Oct 31st 2005 by Vex

3. Try pokulator at www.pokulator.com. is an odds calculator/trainer, not a simulator, but it is free and allows you to learn any odds scenario that you want.

Posted at 2:06AM on Oct 31st 2005 by jacob

4. I've been using Wilson Software's Tournament Texas Hold'em for a little while now, and can recommend it without reservation. Certainly, you're not going up against human players, but I've found it invaluable to simulate multi-table tournaments and to reinforce the value of patience, particularly in limit hold'em. I believe it's about $50 U.S., so it's not cheap, but I think it's worth the price, provided you work on your game seriously with it.

Posted at 8:43PM on Oct 31st 2005 by Rod