These calculators, which can be found online with a quick search, allow players to make quick choices. Do you fold or do you stick around and try your luck? The calculator can give you a quick idea. You might want to fold that hand with only a 5% shot of winning, but maybe you’ll raise on the hand that gives a 25% or better. This kind of guidance can be tremendously helpful, especially if this is your first attempt to learn poker.

But how do you know when to follow the calculator’s suggestion or follow your gut? How often do people choose cards that actually win? It depends largely on your opponents. I suggest trying a few games of free poker to get started, pay attention to who bets when and what cards they had when they won or lost. Even in online poker it’s typically the best player and not the best cards that guarantee a win.

Don’t let other players bully you out of a pot. If they have a large stack of chips in front of them they may bet high with poor cards, attempting to make it too expensive for you to risk betting on even a great hand. Use the calculator for that extra boost of confidence you need to stay in, but be careful. An opponent betting slowly, quietly raising or only calling what you put in may be trying to draw you in. In those cases the calculator may not be helpful.

Remember, when you play poker, it is not just a game of numbers but a game of people. Calculators can give you valuable guidance but they won’t win you that poker tournament alone. Keep your eyes open and watch for trends, if you do you could be the one winning with a poor and not the guy across from you.

College Poker (an initiative brought to you by Cool Hand Poker) is offering all poker fans the chance to win a share of $50,000 in cash! There are no hidden costs and each and every poker tournament hosted at College Poker is free to enter.

To get started players need to go to http://www.collegepoker.com and download the free poker software that is provided by Cool Hand Online Poker. Then simply login every Wednesday until the end of May 2009 and play in the $500 Wednesday Freeroll Tournaments.

The top 10% of the tournament winners from each Wednesday will go through to the $50,000 Grand Poker Final on the 3rd of June 2009.

College Poker also has a College Rep program that allows players to earn extra money for every player that they recruit to play. Please visit us for more information about this initiative.

Breaking Poker News: New and old players now also have the option to practice their online poker skills every Tuesday and stand a chance to win up to $250 in the Tuesday Practice Freerolls.