Poker has steadily evolved into a global phenomenon. From games around the kitchen table or via social platforms with your Grandma, to six figure pots at the World Series of poker, there’s a game for everyone. Even if you are just playing for pennies or match sticks, every hand of poker is liable to get as serious and competitive as Bond and Le Chiffre battling it out for the frankly ludicrous $115 million pot in Casino Royale.
Every player needs all the help he or she can get at the poker table, and that’s where technology can be your friend. Whether you’re taking on an evil criminal mastermind or a deceptively innocent-looking octogenarian, you’ll be glad to have the following poker gadgets in your armory.
An odds calculator
Here’s a quick word to the wise. Bluffing and reading tells is over-rated. Even Bond loused it up and almost ended up costing British taxpayers $100 million when he fell for Le Chiffre’s “forehead scratch” double bluff. Fun though those strategic aspects might be, it’s more important to leverage all you can from the information at your disposal and to bet accordingly. It’s called value betting, and it is an art worth studying. There are plenty of free poker apps that you can find online, but you still need to understand the basic mathematics that a poker odds calculator relies upon.
Poker Flash Cards
Here’s further proof, as if you needed it, that a good head for numbers is more important than an Oscar-winning bluff if you’re going to be a success at the poker table. Not everyone’s head is wired up that way, however, and if your superhero skills lie elsewhere, a set of poker flash cards could be just what you need. You won’t necessarily want to take them into the poker club with you, but when you are playing at home, they can really help to sharpen you up. Again, there are numerous options online, priced between zero and not very much at all, so see what your favorite search engine can find for you.
A portable phone charger
How many online poker players play online poker from their phones? You might not have noticed it, but around 70 million people around the world just raised their hand. Depending on the phone and on the poker app, an online poker hobby can play hell with your battery. Battery life varies drastically from one smartphone to the next, but that is a conversation for another day. Suffice it to say that none of them live forever, and there are few first-world problems as stomach-churning as being engrossed in a game and suddenly noticing your battery is on three percent.
To be honest, we are all so reliant on our phones these days that a portable charger is a sensible investment even if you don’t play poker. There are some great solar options out there that are kinder on your pocket and the planet. Again, a simple web search will lay the options out before you.
