"Turbo" Poker programs - good for leaks?

[Byrn]

I have been considering purchasing Turbo TTH and 7CS, maybe others as well to brush up my games. I feel I have a pretty solid understanding of the games I play often, but I am sure that I have leaks – largely things I have taken for granted or things I don’t pay attention to as close as I should. Are the Turbo programs good for discovering possible areas of concern? I am thinking stuff along the lines of “you are calling too much in this situation” or “you should raise here”, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[Easy E]

Yes, it can IMO. You might want to check out Sidewinder SID also (for Turbo HE) since it walks you through the stages of a hand, pointing out issues at each street, rather than requiring you to manually trigger it each time.

[Byrn]

Thanks for the input, I am downloading the 7cs demo now to try it. I will download the TTH demo later this weekend perhaps.

I am sure there are some things I take for granted or just haven't realized about my play, and I don't really know anyone I can ask to examine my play (short of posting hand histories) - perhaps Wilson can help my development.

[Dentist]

I have the Turbo Texas Hold 'em

It has tons of features and is a fun program.

Benefits - it allows you to practice your game under "real" casino conditions.
You can customize the game to conform to your "usual" table, or a variety of different tables.
But you have to be patient in learning the program.

It has also shown me how DESTRUCTIVE the rake and jackpot drops are in terms of being able to beat the game.... This feature ALONE has led me to believe that either I'm going to have to save up to play middle limits where the rake is not so destructive, or only play low limits when I have a big overlay.

- The advisor on the program, including Sidewinder Sid, is VERY questionable on some of it's suggestions.

For instance, I had pocket 6's on the button in a 6-12 game, 4 people (including myself) took the flop, to no raises.

The flop came A K 3
Someone bet, it advised me to Call.... I was shocked, I can't imagine any scenario by which I should call in this situation - I can only beat bottom pair.....

The program seems too loose overall and some of the suggestions are simply BOGUS. And of course it rates you as being too tight when I make a routine laydown like that....

So I just use it as a way to practice my game.

A worthwhile program for sure..... but don't expect it to teach you anything... just use it to test your game out.

[chaos]

I also do not care for the advisor.

But I found TTH useful in plugging some leaks. You can use the "freeze the button" and "stack the deck" options so that you can practice playing in a cetain situation. You can make use of the repeatable deal code so that the same cards are dealt again allowing you to compare two different strategies.

I found this very useful to improve my play in both the small and big blinds, blind stealing from late postion and playing certain hands like pocket pairs. I just would set up a situation like having 98o in the SB and play it 100 times then analyze the results. Although not strictly analagous to the real life game I still found it helpful as a learning tool.

[Byrn]

Dentist-

Thanks for the input. I think in regards to the advisor you have to make sure anything it suggests fits with your understanding of the game - and if not question why. You seem to understand that of course, just pointing that out. I played with the demo, and it was helpful in that on decisions where I wanted to do something other than the advice, I was able to click on "info" and find out why. Those are the kind of things I am trying to find - things I perhaps take for granted and don't put enough thought into. I may have to spring the $90 (of course I want it for three games though!) and spend some time with it. I should save that in bets over the long run if it can even points out one or two situations I need to think more about.

What specifically does your research show about the low limit games? What games do you feel you need to play in order for the rake to be less of a destructive factor? 10-20?

[Dentist]

1) don't get me wrong - the program is good, very good.

2) yes, I analyze what the advisor is telling me, and then go with the information I feel is correct.

Specifically on low limits:
I like to play in the 6-12 game at my casino, the only problem is that there is a 10% rake up to $4, with a $1 jackpot drop.

I also play 3-6, in that game the drop is not always maxed out because plenty of pots are under $40.

In 6-12, they are almost nearly always capped out, and the game is much tougher. Why do I play it? Because you don't get your pocket queens busted up by K 2 offsuit when there's a king on the board. I like the predictability, the sanity of the table if you will. (and I tend to do better under these circumstances)

At any rate - after only 43 hours worth of hands (1200 or so hands), EVERY single seat in the casino (including myself) was down, some were WAY down. The casino was up $5000 in that amount of time.

Ask yourself this: Would you sit down at an 11 handed 6-12 hold 'em game if I told you that the player in seat 11 was GUARENTEED 9 BIG BETS per hour!!!!???

The other game at my casino is 15-30 (there is no 10-20).
They have a 5% rake up to $4, and no jackpot drop. I really feel like I'll have to be good enough to beat that game in order to overcome the rake.

[Easy E]

Even create your own Profile, setting it however you want, and use THAT as the advisor....