People always say that “Practice makes perfect.” I disagree. The truth is that “PERFECT practice makes perfect.”

Using an odds calculator at online poker is a crucial way to develop your skills and become a better player…

But I’ve noticed that even though the popularity of programs like Texas Calculatem is booming, many players AREN’T USING THESE TOOLS CORRECTLY.

This “bad practice” can easily cause lost profits, a frustrating learning curve, and unnecessary confusion…

So in this post and the next I’ll discuss the seven most costly mistakes players make when using an odds calculator– and how YOU can avoid them.

(If you don’t own an odds calculator yet, now is the time. Click this link to download the best.)

OK, let’s get started.

MISTAKE #1: Not Bluffing Enough

Poker is a game of ODDS and SKILL… but it’s also a game of PSYCHOLOGY and LUCK.

If you listen to the advice of an odds calculator 100% of the time, yes, you’ll come out ahead. But you don’t want to become a predictable “robot” who only plays favorable odds and never bluffs.

Get my drift?

There are times in every poker game when you’ll want to buy the blinds because you sense weakness, over bet the pot to give off a certain table image, or “bully” the table with your huge chip stack.

Odds calculators don’t bluff.  And they don’t tell you when to bluff.

That’s why you’ve got to stay alert and make these types of decisions based on your own intuition…

MISTAKE #2: Not Paying Enough Attention To Your Opponents

The right odds calculator can quickly become addictive. It’s easy to get in a bad habit of just listening to its “advice” without paying attention to the game.

This allows you to save time, save energy, and play multiple games at once.

BUT…

Just like bluffing, blindly listening to an odds calculator can be detrimental. It can prevent you from catching important TELLS at the table.

Pay close attention to your opponents so that you spot someone on “tilt”, identify an amateur, and pick up betting patterns.

MISTAKE #3: Not Considering “Likely Odds”

Let’s say you’ve got pocket Queens. You make a pre-flop raise of 3x the big blind and get four callers (at an 8-man table).

The flop hits: A-A-K

What a TERRIBLE flop, right? You figure one of your four opponents MUST have an Ace… or at least a King. And that means all you can hope for on the turn or river is a Queen.

If someone throws out a sizeable bet in this situation, you would fold… because you know you’re beat.

What’s interesting is that a “primitive” odds calculator would tell you that you have a STRONG hand: two pair with a great kicker. And it would probably tell you to call any bets… or even raise.

Crazy, huh?

You see, here’s the thing: Most odds calculators only look at YOUR hand… and don’t try to “deduce” what your opponents might have. They don’t look at what’s “likely”.

You and I both know that the only way someone would call a pre-flop raise of 3x the big blind is if they have something good… like an Ace. But an odds calculator that just pays attention to your cards has no idea.

Texas Calculatem is different. Texas Calculatem DOES look at what’s “likely” and what’s not. It takes a look at those four players who stayed in the pot and calculates the likelihood that one of them is holding an Ace or a King… given all the possible conditions.

Don’t download an odds calculator that doesn’t do “likely odds”, otherwise you’re just asking for trouble.

————————————————————————

In my next post I’ll cover mistakes 4 through 7.