Poker software 101 - A handy guide

Hi folks and welcome to this edition of Adrian's Corner. This week I don't really have much insights into actual poker playing as I haven't been playing as much as usual lately - you can blame my bosses for that, they keep dishing out the work :) What I'd like to focus on this week are some of the nifty little features and options that our poker software gives you in order to make your playing experience a better one and possibly helping you to win a little more. I'll start off with actual poker table options. 1. Showing Borders If you're lazy like me and don't want to have to actively watch the action at the table or are busy painting your nails or have one eye on the football game while playing poker, then this is really nifty to keep track of the action. This option puts a little red or green border around a players name plaque - a red color border means that the player still has to make a betting decision and green means they already have. When all borders are green, the next betting round ensues. 2. Game Markers For the mathematicians of the game. This is especially good for looking at pot odds and making decisions based on players in the game and money in the pot. This shows you how much money was in the pot and how many players were still in the game for each betting round. 3. Hand Description One of my personal favorites (me being lazy again) - if I'm not focusing all my attention on the cards this little feature will actually describe my current hand to me. It shows on the table in text and of course it's only visible to you in case you're worried. 4. Four Color Deck A marvel of modern poker. Having trouble spotting flushes? Well this makes for easier potential flush identification. Hearts and Spades stay in red and black respectively whilst Diamonds and Clubs turn blue and green. I really recommend using this option! 5. Changing Table Size If you're pressed for space on your desktop, then pick the one that suits you - Large, Small or Mini. 6. Seating Preference Another cool feature if you're picky about where you sit. This allows you to actually select a particular seat for certain table sizes - so if you like to sit bottom left at a table then this will put you in that seat every time you play. 7. Game History This is for those that really take their game seriously or if you just want to check back on a hand. Allows you to save the game commentary (which includes your cards, actions, bets - everything about the game) to your computer for review. What's awesome about this is that if you're using a third party program to track your statistics like Poker Tracker for example, it's quick and easy to take the histories and add them to the program for review. 8. Show Stats See the little show stats button at the bottom of the table when you've got it in Normal or Large view? Click on it and you'll be given some great stats on your number of games won, how often you perform certain actions etc. This can really help up your game if you make good use of them and adjust your play when you see that you're lacking in certain areas. 9. Player History Notice the little red "tick" next to a player's nameplate? Click on it and what you'll get is their actual play history for the round - telling you what they did and how much they bet - again a great way to be lazy and not have to actively watch the action or while attempting to multi task. There are some more options that can be helpful, but I think these are the nicest ones to highlight as I use pretty much all of them and find them very useful. Hope you do too. Note that options 1 through 5 are accessible by clicking MENU at an open poker table, then selecting OPTIONS ==> POKER TABLE OPTIONS from the fly-out menu. Option 6 is accessible by clicking MENU at an open table and then OPTIONS ==> SEATING PREFERENCE. Option 7 by clicking MENU at an open table then OPTIONS ==> GAME HISTORY. Options 8 and 9 are visible to you at the poker table. That's it for this week - have fun, give the features a try and may your opponents be plagued by 7-2 off suit. Adrian