Free Poker Software
This is the ultimate list of the best poker software for 2020 (free tools included). These are the absolute best poker software tools that poker pros are using to crush the games in 2020. The pros behind what is arguably the best free poker app for intermediate and advanced players, are among the top names in the industry. The coaching comes directly from poker pros that include Antonio Esfandiari, Jonathan Little and Huck Seed. The app comes with one free pack of 14 hands covering No-limit Hold’ em strategies.
Posted by Davida Mintz, September 3, 2014
Do you want to make real money playing poker? I mean life-changing money! You can find dozens of free poker apps and software programs that will teach you how to rake in the dough, making quick moves on your unsuspecting opponents who have no idea what’s about to hit them. Many will put money in your pockets, even when they know they’re going in as an underdog.
The sheer number of poker applications and software programs designed for players makes it tough to pinpoint the right ones for you. Distinguishing between the winners and losers is time consuming and negative EV. We tried them out, studied their features and made comparisons to bring you a comprehensive list of the best free poker apps and tools in the game.
Appeak Poker
In an article last year, PokerListings named the five best poker apps for iPhone. Topping the list was AppeakPoker, previously one of the best free poker apps for Android, and now fully compatible with iPhone and iPad as well. With more than 1,000,000 downloads, there’s never a shortage of players ready to gamble with play money at stake. Cash games range from the microstakes level all the way up to blinds 1000/2000. MTT’s are a good start for players with their eyes on the tournament circuit. Players receive 1000 free chips daily and the low buy-ins available make it possible to play without purchasing additional chips.
Appeak is one of the best free poker games for beginners still learning how to play No-limit Hold’ em. Given that, you’d expect the tables to be soft. Interestingly enough, most of the players’ are at a skill level beyond basic and know better than to go all-in with any two cards. In other words, the Appeak free poker app attracts players who take the game more seriously than the ones you find in a typical freeroll.
Insta Poker
Originally, a large segment of the smartphone community was missing out on this poker training app for iPad and iPhone. Now, after a much anticipated release, InstaPoker is a strong contender for the title of best poker app for Android. It evaluates every move you make during a hand and provides real-time advice on factors that include bet sizing, board texture and hand reading. The moment you make a pre-flop raise, a pop-up appears displaying the words “best move,” or, “bad move,” along with an explanation of the ideal way to play the hand. Insta Poker guides you through each betting round, describing the reasons behind each decision and bringing the hand to a successful conclusion.
The pros behind what is arguably the best free poker app for intermediate and advanced players, are among the top names in the industry. The coaching comes directly from poker pros that include Antonio Esfandiari, Jonathan Little and Huck Seed. The app comes with one free pack of 14 hands covering No-limit Hold’ em strategies. It includes live cash and tournament play. Do well enough and you can win additional hand packs, but to get the most out of this free app, you’ll have to start spending on some. They’re produced entirely by the pros with titles such as, “The Magician’s Secrets for Winning Tournaments,” “Combat Aggression,” and “Short Stack Strategies.”
Poker Notes Live App
Most online players wouldn’t dream of starting a session without the assistance of a good HUD. The absence of stats and notes has always put live players at a disadvantage. PokerNotesLive is evening out the playing field. With over 5,000 downloads since Poker Notes Live debuted in 2012, the app is succeeding in its mission: “to bring the note-taking technology that online poker players have long benefited from to the live poker arena.”
Taking notes at the poker table with paper and pen is awkward. When players see you writing in a notebook, they probably assume you’re writing about them. Fiddling with your smartphone, on the other hand, doesn’t attract any unwanted attention. With Poker Notes Live, you can take notes inconspicuously, and call them up the next time the same player’s at your table. Tag players with the icons above to quickly identify their player style.
While Poker Notes Live is entertaining, it’s built to make you a more profitable player. It’s one of the best poker apps for real money games. While many of its features are free, it’s worth investing in the premium version that sells for $4.99. This comes with the ability to build a database on every player you’ve ever faced. The benefits are summed up in a recent review by Adanai.com. The headline reads, “Poker Notes Live. For the Player who Refuses to be Played.”
Free Poker Tools
Many of the best free poker apps discussed in this article are also available on your laptop or desktop. Some of the most powerful poker tools still come in the form of downloadable software. Next, we take a look at the best in class in this category:
PokerStrategy.com Equilab
This free equity calculator can run hand vs. hand, hand vs. range and range vs. range scenarios. Here’s how I personally use this tool in game. When I lose a race, I plug both hands into Equilab to confirm that I had made the correct equity decision before putting my stack at risk. Use it to reinforce the basics, such as: When you’re holding AK vs. a pair, you’re an underdog with odds of 43 – 57 percent in favor of the pair. Or, that aces win approximately 84 percent of the time.
Equilab really shines in its ability to help you become familiar with a wider range of equity situations. Spending a little time each day running equity calculations will help you make the correct call the next time you put your chips in the middle. The card matrix features some shortcuts you might not know about. Hint: I like to pop my opponents’ HUD stats into the VPIP box on the software for an instant visual of how their ranges’ stack up against mine.
Equilab is refreshingly feature rich for free software. Under the “Tools” tab, you will discover a really fun equity trainer poker application. You may be surprised to discover how little or how much equity you have on certain boards. Post flop, the Scenario Analyzer uses both pictures of cards and a graph to teach you how each card that comes after the flop affects your equity against a hand or hand range.
Flopzilla
Flopzilla is designed to help users understand how different ranges hit various board textures. The statistics fields are the key to the software. They display which hands in a particular range are likely to connect with a given flop. How often the range will hit top pair, a set or two pair for example. Suppose the flop comes ace high and your opponent is playing 50 percent of hands dealt. Play cautiously because the statistics fields will tell you that he’s going to hit top pair 21 percent of the time. Take heart in the fact that a full forty-seven percent of the time, he’s going to miss the flop. Become familiar with the boards that do and don’t hit his range, and learn to profit from his ultra-loose play.
Flopzilla has some very useful features to help you exploit weaknesses in your opponents who are playing too loose or too tight. Expand the software to the right of the dead cards window and the hotness feature appears.
Flopzilla’s most basic functions are free. A license good for two computers sells for $35.
The Combonator
Typically, combinatorial hand analysis involves the time consuming process of breaking down your opponents’ range by hand as the board develops. While the Combonator doesn’t replace the traditional method, it automates the process and provides instant results. Enter a pre-flop range and two hole cards, and it instantly calculates the number of possible hand combinations within the range. When you fill in the board, the software narrows your opponents’ range down as you progress through the hand.
The Combonator is at its best when working with multiple parts of a range. A range can be split into as many as eight different groups categorized by color. The entire range and each individual group is then analyzed vs. the hero’s hand. The software provides a complete picture - counting combinations, calculating equity and analyzing board texture. Seeing the parts of a range carved out in different colors on the board creates a concrete mental picture to go along with your concept of a certain range. The free version is limited to the use of two color groups and a few basic functions. The Combonator’s pro version is available for $45.
Free Poker Software Reddit
ICMIZER
Make a deep run in a tournament, and you’re bound to face several spots in which you have to choose between pushing, folding or calling a player’s all-in. ICMIZER to the rescue! It calculates the EV of push, fold and call decisions, based on factors that include hand ranges, stack sizes, and payout structure as well as blinds and antes. ICIMIZER displays the range of hands you can profitably call with, and the range you can shove when you’re the first to act. It’s up to the user to assign ranges to the other players in the game. The software works well for Sit ‘n’ Gos and in the late stages of MTTs. It’s the only software that allows you to begin making calculations with up to 60 players left in the MTT.
The ICMIZER also calculates future game simulations, an ICM model that, among other things, takes into account how soon you will next be in the blinds. Pushing ranges for short stacks using this model are much wider than with traditional Nash ranges. Three calculations a day come with the free plan, or you can pay $14.99 a month for unlimited use. ICMIZER 2 is in development for an expected release in the fall of 2015.
CardRunners EV
Winning at poker is about making better decisions than your opponents make. One way to is accomplish this is through reviewing hands with a decision tree. Unlike a HUD, which looks at a hand in its entirety, a decision tree stops to analyze every possible outcome at each betting round. With CardRunners EV, a decision tree is created by entering your opponent’s range and expected actions (call, raise, fold, all-in), as well as your own hand and actions. Then, the software performs EV calculations for every decision possible to come up with your optimal course of action. All of the possible outcomes are displayed on the branches of the tree along with statistics that include the odds each will occur (two pair, gutshot, flush, etc.), equity, pot size and stack size.
CardRunners EV is designed for anyone interested in learning more about poker from a math-based perspective. The software handles the math for you to make your poker study time much more efficient. The training video on building a simple tree does a good job of walking you through your first tree. It costs $99 for a license to register the software on one computer, and $55 for a second computer.
AlphaHUD
Free Poker Software
How much do you think your poker game would improve if there were a way to simplify and supercharge your HUD? AlphaHUD uses stamps and badges as if it were poker shorthand, so you can easily exploit your opponents. Green, yellow and red stamps indicate how often a player will fold vs. steal, vs. 3-bet, vs. C-bet and vs. check-raise. A green stamp represents a player who folds at least 65 percent of the time in a given spot. Detailed stats are available in a pop-up when you click a stamp. One of my favorite features of AlphaHUD is a set of stats that gives you instant feedback on how a given villain plays against you personally when you’re in the blinds.
Since blind stealing is such an important part of the game, AlphaHUD has a badge to alert you when it’s profitable to min. raise practically any two cards from the small blind. A villain with a green badge displayed on his HUD is folding 55 to 65 percent to a small blind steal. When the badge is blue, it is cause for celebration, because such a player folds 65 percent of the time or greater from the big blind. While AlphaHUD is not a crystal ball… it will show you the exact hands your opponents have shoved from 10BB, 7BB and 5BB deep. The software is designed to work with Hold’ em Manager 2 and Note Caddy Premium. It was created with Sit ‘n’ Go players in mind, and a license costs $99.
Best Free Poker Software
Poker Table Ratings
Want to get the inside scoop on the players sitting at your table? A HUD can only access data from your hand histories. Whereas, Poker Table Ratings has access to huge databases of player stats. Searching feels more like spying with all the details included in a player profile. Just type in a screen name to find out how much money that player has won or lost in their career, view a timeline of those wins and losses and review dozens of stats. Each player is given a “hot or not” rating based on how well they are running in the short-term. Poker Table Ratings offers hand histories for sale. Pick a stake and a poker site and have up to 10,000,000 hands dropped into your HUD as if you’d been at the table. The website also features a table selection tool that gives ratings to each table representing how soft the game is.
Poker Table Ratings offers a silver membership for $19.99 per month with discounts when you pay for three or 12 months in advance. The silver comes with 1000 searches monthly and a gold membership is available that comes with 5,000 searches each month. Certain poker sites have banned the use of Poker Table Ratings, claiming it gives players an unfair advantage. It’s a good idea to find out if that’s the case with the site you play on most before purchasing a membership.
More of the Best Free Poker Apps
Poker News Mobile
Keeping up with the day-to-day happenings in the poker world helps players stay involved and driven. The free Poker News Mobile App features interviews with poker’s biggest winners, legislative news and up-to-date coverage of live and online tournaments.
Phil Galfond, Greg Merson and Robert Mizrachi are just a few of the pros to offer their advice in recent strategy articles. This app will keep you busy listening to podcasts, reading poker news and watching videos that feature highlights from the World Series of Poker 2014 as well as interviews with the November Niners.
Bluff Mobile
Save some smartphone time to browse the pages of Bluff Magazine and get familiar with all the features that come with the free Bluff Mobile App, among the best free poker apps for iPhone and Android. It gives you access to the entire magazine before it hits newsstands, and keeps you connected to Bluff.com. Every month you’ll find profiles of well- known poker players, strategy articles and industry news.
There’s a “find tournaments tab” that gives the location of the nearest tournaments by buy-in. Bluff mobile comes with many useful features and one for pure entertainment. Press the twitter tab to read your favorite players post an ongoing stream of twitter chatter.
Take Advantage of the Best Free Poker Apps and Tools
Do you have the drive to take advantage of the most innovative software and best free online poker apps available? Do you have the discipline to put in the hours it takes to master the most sophisticated of these programs? Do the work and watch your opponents fall by the wayside while you move up in stakes and increase your win rate. Bottom line though, nothing replaces experience. The most knowledgeable players are not always the best players. Andrew Robl told Poker News, “It is impossible to be a great poker player without putting in thousands of hours at the table and seeing millions of hands.”
Did we miss your favorite poker app or poker tool? Comment below and we will add your favorite to the page!
Davida Mintz is a poker player and contributor to Titan Poker. A former television news reporter, Davida’s interviewed presidential candidates and celebrities, even one serial killer. As a poker writer, she’s thrilled to add a World Series of Poker Main Event champion to that list.
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