Poker Academy Pro 2.0

[Guernica4000]

Sorry for the cross-post it took me a couple of tries till I was told this is the best forum for my question.

Has anyone used this product? Is it any good? I am looking to buy something for my Dad's Birthday. He is pretty new at poker and plays about 10 hrs a month in a casino. He pays 2-5 Limit and once a Month a Multi-Table (77 players max) $300 tourney. Doesn’t get enough practice and playing for play money on-line is a joke.

Is there any other product out there that may be better?

Thanks in advance,

I have Poker Academy 1.5 and they are currently selling 2.0 version now. It's a good software program. Especially for someone who doesn't like playing online for real money. The bots are among the best you will find online. I've never used Wilson Texas Turbo so I can't compare it but from what I hear, the PA bots are much better. I think the funnest thing in PA is the NL tournaments. It is very similar to playing an online real money tourney. I use it more for fun, though but I'm not interested in really improving my limit game play since I play NL primarily. The bots are completely adjustable. If you are interested in Poker software with bots, I would say you can't beat PA pro. BTW, you can play the games with all the cards face up and many adjustable scenarios. It kind of helps you get a gauge on how often you really are ahead on the flops, etc.

[Guernica4000]

Thanks!

If anyone else has a suggestion I will keep monitoring this post until tomorrow.

Thanks again

[Sniper]

PAP2 is the best of these types of products currently available.

Stacked coming out later this year uses their engine and should be an interesting "game" as well.

Poker Academy 1.5 was the best, bar none, but PA 2.0 is in another league entirely.

It is the absolute nuts in poker software. Check out the free demo. For any serious student of the game, the program will pay for itself many many times over. I've had PA 2.0 for a month, and I'm still salivating. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

dt

[Huxley]

Note that PA Pro is not for everyone. If you aren't willing to work at bettering your game through in-depth analysis, identifying leaks, practicing troublesome hole cards, fine tuning the bots, etc., then you won't derive maximum value from Pro, which costs $130.

So, for many players, the best value is Poker Academy (non-pro) which costs anywhere from $20 to $30 depending on the retailer, and still provides excellent bot competition. Then, there is an upgrade path to Pro if you are ready to get serious.

The upcoming version of the non-pro product will have the online play feature that is already part of the Pro version. This enables online play and chat, with no rake.

[beekeeper]

I just bought mine about a month ago and have been playing it for 2 weeks. I decided on Poker Academy as opposed to Turbo Poker after doing a search on this site.

I'm relatively new to poker (less than a year) and I wanted to get a game to practice on that was better than the $10 cheapie I bought at Sam's Club.

I haven't explored all the bells and whistles, but the game is clearly better than my cheap game. I think it's a better game to practice limit on than no limit. There's a couple of reasons for this.

In the no-limit section of the game, the simulated player-bots just can't match the real players you run up against, maniacs and LAGs who never fold. There's just a little too much logic to their play, and they actually lay down hands if you give them poor odds.

In the limit section, the player-bots seem a lot like the players in casinos. You see a lot of flops, turns and rivers and at the show downs, players have about what you would expect them to have based on the board. I find that I really am getting valuable practice--even though I prefer no limit live, I prefer playing limit on the game.

There is more to the game than I use, I just haven't had a chance to check it out yet. One cool feature that I haven't tried is that it allows you to go online and play against other Poker Pro Academy players. I thought this was an interesting feature because if someone's willing to pay $130 for a game, they probably are serious about their play, and would make good competition.

The "advisor" on the game, that critiques your play, is pretty lame.

There is also a hand calculator that can analyze any hand, against any other hand or hands, with any board, to calculate or simulate winning percentages. You can access it during play to analyze your action based on your cards and the board. I have used it out of curiousity, but I'm sure it would come in handy to replay hands from games.

Since your father plays limit, I'd say this is a good idea for him. If he was more into no limit, I'm not sure I would recommend it.

[ QUOTE ]
One cool feature that I haven't tried is that it allows you to go online and play against other Poker Pro Academy players. I thought this was an interesting feature because if someone's willing to pay $130 for a game, they probably are serious about their play, and would make good competition.

The "advisor" on the game, that critiques your play, is pretty lame.



[/ QUOTE ]

The previous quote I posted incorrectly. Here's my take on PA. I bought PAP2 some weeks ago and it is awesome. I have tried playing against other owners of PAP2 and they aren't fooling. It is close as you will get to playing without real money. You think you are playing for real money against these folks. I have tried play money on 10+ online casinos and nothing is like PAP2 online.

And, If you don't like your advisor, try a different one or change his play to more match your game.

This truly is awesome and it wasn't that long ago that I posted the question. "What do you think of PAP2?"

[TransientR]

[ QUOTE ]
Sorry for the cross-post it took me a couple of tries till I was told this is the best forum for my question.

Has anyone used this product? Is it any good? I am looking to buy something for my Dad's Birthday. He is pretty new at poker and plays about 10 hrs a month in a casino. He pays 2-5 Limit and once a Month a Multi-Table (77 players max) $300 tourney. Doesn’t get enough practice and playing for play money on-line is a joke.

Is there any other product out there that may be better?

Thanks in advance,

[/ QUOTE ]

A fine piece of software, with dedicated programmers/researchers behind it who will continue to make it better. I think your dad will enjoy it and find it a play improving tool.

Frank