iPhone App Reviews

ePokerHelper

Michael (Admin) | Oct 21, 2008 Games

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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If you’ve ever watched Texas Hold ‘Em on TV you’ve probably seen those odds they put in the corner of the screen for each player’s chances of winning. The percentages change as the game progresses and each player’s hand unfolds, and with any luck Mike Matusow quits running his big mouth and gets knocked out of the game.

Aloum’s ePokerHelper, formerly called iPokerHelper until a recent naming conflict came up, does kind of the same thing as that fancy odds calculator on TV but it’s for your hand only.

When you launch the app you’re shown four full decks of cards, one for each suit. As you’re dealt cards in real-life (ie: in an online game), just drag the corresponding cards from each of the decks to the bottom of the screen to match your actual hand.

The very bottom edge of the screen shows your statistical chances of winning, along with a one-word recommendation, on a table with anywhere from 2 to 9 players. A crappy hand will earn you a big red NO!!, and middle of the road hand will tell you Hum, and a great hand will say GO!!

You can either build your poker hand card-by-card, as if you’re sitting at a poker table, or you can have the app deal you random cards. ePokerHelper can also point out some hands that can beat you, like when you’re about to bet hard with a high straight and forget all about the flush draw that’s quietly staring you in the face.

I like this app, but it’s probably best used as a learning tool rather than an actual betting advisor. I mean, there are certain things that you just can’t count on any app to do… such as helping you read the betting patterns of the other players, or considering your betting position at the table. Poker is more than just odds, and the best players are also masters at playing the head game that comes with every hand.

If you’re a beginner at Texas or just love poker so much that you want to be able to construct hypothetical hands, ePokerHelper is probably worth $3.99. If you’re playing online and can build your hands quickly in this app, it might even pay for itself by convincing you to fold those pocket aces when three hearts come up on the flop. More experienced players, though, are probably better off relying on their gut instincts.

Edit: I just tapped on one of the hyperlinked words (“Texas Hold’em” or “Poker”) on the info screen and was expecting it to open Safari… instead it opened an in-app Wiki search tool! Weird. So consider that a bonus. Get ePokerHelper, and get “Wapedia” too.

Wapedia is ad-supported with little text links, but it could come in handy if you don’t already have Wikipanion. If you tap “Texas Hold’em” it opens Wapedia in English, and if you tap “Poker” it opens Wapedia in French (you can change the language by tapping Home (Accueil) > Languages).

Tags: $3.99, casino