As many of the world knows, Texas Hold’em is becoming more and more popular. Every day you turn on the TV and see another story of a famous poker event, whether it’s a tournament, a game, or a celebrity appearance. The poker boom is happening right here and we can thank Texas Hold’em for it.

For those of you new to poker, I’m sure you can already see what the hard work is, the long hours of play, the bluffing, the intimidation, the betting, the respect, the desire to win, and the heart pumping story that the cameras capture. But can you imagine how compelling it is, to be able to say that you made it to the final table of the World Series of Poker with your pocket aces and twos? It is a honor and a joy to be able to say that, but it would sure take some time and diligence in order to accomplish such a task.

Players such as Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey have all achieved celebrity status because they are not afraid to get in the camera shot. Heck, on the WPT, you can watch what Ivey does with sunglasses on. Well, maybe not, but if you want to get to the next level of poker celebrity, learning how to play poker on Full Tilt Poker might be the path to celebrity stardom.

As Full Tilt Poker’s popularity has grown, so has the competition. The Ladbrokes Poker Show has taken the online poker industry by storm as they were the first online poker site to pop up on the Internet. Since Full Tilt Poker’s inception, others have tried to copy the site’s success, with results that have been mixed.

Unfortunately, some of the software that’s been downloaded to run on Full Tilt Poker’s servers has been discovered to be exceptionally bugety. As a result, a number of counters have been banned from playing on the site. As their names reveal their names, you can guess why they were banned.

Other software is downloadable online dewalive rooms, such as Poker Watch, that allow you to do hero analysis on your opponents. While it is an impressive tool to have available to you, the software itself has caused more confusion than it has helped. Some of the online poker rooms that offer these types of software are simply out fitings of regular online poker rooms. They are just using the regular online poker room software to allow their players the illusion of variety in their poker rooms while actually sticking with the same deck of cards at their average table.

Most of these downloadable poker tools such as Poker Edge are essentially just powerful charting and tracking software, without which it is virtually impossible to win, or even understand, much less win big. Seriously, these things are warps. Warps are Freerolls, not McMansions.

Another such software is Poker Office, which is basically poker tracker/two-player head to head software. The difference between the two is that the one you have to install on your computer is the one used to track your opponent’s hands, while the one on your computer is the one used to display your cards.

Most of these poker tools can also be intimidating to the newcomer to online poker, in that you will inevitably see a lot of the same players again and again. The initial use of these can prove to be highly educational, as these players’ habits become your habits too. Learn from this, and avoid some of the pitfalls later on, and you will find that online poker is quite a bit easier than most people think.