Question: Can I download Sportsbook Poker for a Mac?

Answer: No. Sportsbook Poker is no longer accepting new players.

How Do I Play Sportsbook Poker On My Mac Then?

Players can choose to download the Mac Sportsbook Poker room or use Wine (as instructed below). The only reason we can see anyone using Wine to play at Sportsbook Poker is for the features. Not all of the features are available on the native Mac client but the loss in features really isn’t that noticeable.

Wine is a program that allows Mac users to use Microsoft Windows software on their Mac computers.  You may encounter some glitches trying to run Sportsbook Poker on your Mac through Wine, which is why it’s better to opt for the native Mac download.

You can download and install Wine at sourceforge.net.  I must warn you that this is not for the technically illiterate.  Installing and configuring Wine is a little complicated, but the directions on sourceforge should be good enough to get you going as long as you are a little computer savvy.

How To Play Mac Poker Without Wine

If using Wine sounds a little over your head or too much effort, there are some online poker rooms that offer poker software specifically for the Mac.

For more info on these poker rooms, read my best Mac Poker rooms page.

This is part 3 of a 3 part series detailing the specifics of the ICM model. The 3rd part of this series will show you the many tools available at your disposal to make ICM calculations in mere seconds. Please read part 1 – Understanding the ICM Model, and part 2 – Using the ICM Model if you are not familiar with the ICM concept.

As you have seen in the previous parts of this series the mathematical calculations on which the Independent Chip model is based are not particularly complex but they are painfully long to complete and impossible to complete in the average time you are giving on most online poker sites. It helps to have a sit and go odds calculator to make these calculations for you.

There are several calculators available that will help you to crunch the numbers to allow you to make the best decision of whether to push/call/fold. Although the software can calculate the numbers very quickly often times you will not have time to enter the data before the clock runs out. Therefore ICM calculators are best used to analyze your post game history to determine whether you made the right calls. This will in turn improve your skills of putting opponents on a range and making the best call or fold.

Free ICM Calculators

There are several free ICM calculators offered on the internet. While these don’t include the more advanced functions of the paid version they offer several functions which can help you better understand ICM and decide whether it is worth investing in a more sophisticated software.

1. Chillin411

Very simple to use, simply enter the prize pool distribution percentage and the amount of chips each player has. The script automatically calculates the percentage chance of each player finishing in the money. This is a very basic ICM odds calculator and it will require some quick mental calculations in order to use during a tournament.

2. ICM Poker

Similar to Chillin411′s ICM calculator, ICM Poker adds a few extra features including the option to display the prize pool % or the place %. Again however this type of calculator is best used to analyze your post game stats and not to be used during a tournament.

Paid ICM Calculators

The SitNGo Wizard (The Best ICM Calculator Available)

The most complete ICM calculator available, SitNGo wizard can analyze post game history from nearly every online poker room. Once the data is loaded it will give you a full hand by hand analysis based and determine the equity of each possible outcome.Additionally you can re-create situations and modify the variables, for example if you folded your QJ on the flop it can show you the possible outcomes in terms of equity gained or loss if you had called.

SitNGo Wizard also features a Quiz Mode. This feature recreates a tournament game and you must determine the best course of action based on the information you are given. It’s a great way to improve your decision making skills in push or fold situations in S&G tournaments.

SitNGo Wizard can also be used during a tournament, simply enter the number of players, chip stacks, and you can either have SitNGo wizard determine a range of hands or you can manually enter it. Entering this information shouldn’t take more than 10 seconds and the software will show you the possible equity outcomes.

Click here to get your free 30 day trial of SitNGo Wizard.

Some may argue that ICM calculators give players an unfair advantage, well at least that’s the way Poker Stars sees it. Poker Stars recently announced that they do not allow ICM calculators to be run simultaneously during a live tournament. Whether the other online poker sites follow suit remains to be seen. In the mean time learn as much as you can with SitNGo Wizard and continue to analyze your post history stats to justify your decisions and see where you made mistakes.

The advantage of using no download Java-based online poker software is that you truly can play anywhere. You can play on a friend’s computer, at work, at school, at the library, at your favorite coffee shop and all the other places that you shouldn’t be playing online poker. (If you get fired or expelled or get your library card revoked, you never met me…)

Java-based online poker sites also are compatible with every kind of computer platform since it is played right through your favorite internet browser. That means you can play no download poker on your Mac, Linux-based computer, or regular old Windows.

So what is the best no download Java poker room? As usual, I have a top three list for you.

#1 – 888 Poker – No US players allowed

888 Poker has decent, but not great no download poker software. The real reason that they are on this list is that the weak competition at Pacific Poker makes it one of the best poker sites to play at overall.

888 Poker is the poker room of 888.com, one of the biggest online casinos. What this means is that many high rollers and gamblers come to the poker room to “gamble” at poker. What they don’t know is that there is actually a strategy to poker, and they throw a bunch of money around without thinking, making the games fantastically fun.

If you would like to check out 888 Poker’s great games, click here to visit 888Poker.com. By following this link, you will get a 100% up to $600 welcome bonus from 888 Poker.

#2 – Luvin Poker – US players allowed

Luvin Poker accepts USA players and provides an easy to use instant play version of their software via the no download application. The no download software is compatible with all operating systems including Mac OS, Linux and Windows. It provides the standard features players have come to expect including hand history files, game statistics in the lobby as well as at the tables, and the ability to multi-table with ease.

Luvin Poker is on the Everleaf Network, which is one of the smaller networks. This gives players a serious advantage as the majority of the players are novice and play a weak passive game. Join LuvinPoker through our site and receive a 100% bonus up to $500 using our bonus code “INSTANT”

#3 – Party Poker – No US players allowed

Party Poker has the best no download Java poker software overall. Party Poker is one of the best and biggest online poker room, and it is a real bonus that they also offer a no download version of their great poker software.

PartyPoker is one of the biggest online poker sites, and is the best poker site for international players. They offer tons of tournaments, very good cash games, and top quality Java poker software.

Party Poker’s no download software is fully compatible with Mac, Linux and Windows. Like Absolute Poker, the quality of Party’s Java poker room is at the top of the list. You can play many tables at once, and they all open in their own independent window. When I first started playing on Party Poker’s no download software, I thought that there was a mistake. The software quality was so good, I thought I was playing the downloaded version instead. True story.

If you want more info, read my Party Poker review, or visit Party Poker’s no download software launch page by clicking here. Use my bonus code 500PS when you sign up to get a 100% up to $500 bonus.

Quick Stats
Open Since	2000
Player Traffic	85,000 +
US Players Allowed?	NO
Max. Tables	12
Bonus	100% up to $500
Minimum Deposit	$25
Network	PartyPoker
Rating Overview
Software Quality	8.5 / 10
Player Traffic & Skill	9 / 10
Tournaments	8 / 10
Bonus and Promotion	9 / 10
Security & Support	8.5 / 10
Overall Rating	86%

Party Poker Overview

Party Poker was where I called home for two years prior to them dropping Americans in October of 2006. PartyPoker.com has always done an exceptional job of marketing and attracting lots of newer players. Before leaving the US market, Party Poker was the biggest online poker site in the world. They lost about 70% of their players when Americans were no longer allowed, but PartyPoker has done a good job of marketing internationally and has steadily grown since then.

I have a lot of experience at Party Poker, but that was mostly in the past. For this review, I have played a lot on their play money tables and I have also talked with players I know who still play there. I feel that I have a very good grasp of the current scene at Party. The only section that I have to rely on other players’ opinions for is real money tournament and ring game strength.

Party Poker Bonus and Promotions 9 / 10

Party Poker has very good promotions for their players, and as a result, many players stay very loyal to Party. I was one of those players before I could no longer play there for real money. Party Poker offers reload bonuses for any extra money deposited nearly every month. They also have a very solid player points store with tons of cool merchandise.

Party offers all new players a 100% up to $500 bonus on their first deposit when you use our party poker bonus code 2011. I really liked this bonus because it was an easy one to clear, unlike some of the other $500+ bonuses out there. The new 2011 Party Poker bonus is easy to clear, gives you up to $500 on your first deposit and will include you in the Party VIP program, which awards instant cash.

Software Quality 8.5 / 10

Party Poker has always been an innovator when it comes to online poker software. They were the first poker room to offer resizeable tables in 2006. They were the first major poker room to allow players to play more than 8 tables at once (if you can handle that many).

There has never been any major issues with connection reliability or any software glitches for me. Party Poker continues to offer reliable, smooth game play.

I have never liked how their software looks. The lobby is bright green, yellow and purple. Party Poker’s tables are old-fashioned looking. They are not very fancy at all. While plying, you are looking at a generic table with or without (depending on your options) cheesy looking people sitting in chairs. You know though, I guess that is part of Party’s charm for me. There is a certain amount of cheese when you play at Party Poker. It’s kind of goofy without really trying to be.

Ring Game Traffic and Quality 9 / 10

Up until 2006, Party Poker would have scored a 10 / 10 in this category, but they have lost all American players. Party Poker is still the largest international-only poker room. They have a large amount of traffic at all levels, from $0.02/$0.04 up to $100/$200. There are still 10,000 plus cash game players at peak times. That places them second or third among all poker sites. The level of play is also quite soft compared to other poker sites. Due to the ease of competition and very strong player traffic, I give Party Poker high marks.

Tournament Traffic and Quality 8 / 10

Party Poker was the first online poker room to hold a million dollar poker tournament, and they have set the bar for a long time for real money online poker tournaments. As I mentioned before, Party Poker lost some player traffic in 2006, but international players are avid tournament players. Party Poker has some of the easier tournament fields online. They have many guaranteed tournaments that run daily, and many different buy-ins every hour. They have everything that the other big rooms have, but not much extra to stand out from PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker. I place Party Poker third behind these two poker rooms for tournament play.

Deposit Options, Financial Security & Support 8.5 / 10

For international players, Party Poker is tough to beat. They have solid email support and 24/7 telephone support based out of India. One of the only tough spots about their support is that I have found it very difficult at times to communicate with their telephone support due to very strong Indian accents. The effort they put into support is top-notch though.

You should feel very safe with your money at Party Poker. They are traded on the London Stock Exchange and run a very transparent and trusted company. Even when they had to cash out tens of thousands of American players accounts in 2006, they gave every player every cent owed to them without fighting.

Click here to visit Party Poker

This is the same concept that Poker Stars has had in place for years. There will now be tournaments on Full Tilt where the prizes are paid in tournament dollars. You can use tournament dollars to buy in to any multi-table or single-table sit and go tournament.

You can also convert T$ into cash via the cashier in the Full Tilt Poker cashier. The real racket with this is that Full Tilt charges a 5% fee on the conversion to real cash.

To me, this is an outrage. They already took the tournament fee from the buy-in that you spent in the tournament to win the tournament dollars you now want to convert back to cash. This is one more step in a downward direction for the money hungry management at Full Tilt Poker. They took a great step forward, and then tainted it by taking advantage of it and grabbing more money unnecessarily from the players.

Not all is bad however.

In this same upgrade, Full Tilt introduced an industry first Auto Top-Up feature for cash ring games. The Auto Top-Up is a way to set the amount of money that you want your stack size to be. If you lose some money, your chips will automatically be replenished back up to the amount you set as your default stack size.

You can access the Auto Top-Up settings from the Full Tilt Poker lobby by selecting “Options -> Set Buy-In Preferences…” from the main lobby. The picture below shows how to set the settings for this very cool feature.

I can honestly say that this is a feature that has been on my wish list for years. I am very anal about always having the maximum stack size at all of my tables. This can be quite a head-ache when playing 12+ tables of six-max no limit like I have been known to do on occasion. I sometimes have such a preoccupation with trying to frantically click from table to table so I can add 50 cents to my stack, that I lose track of other hands going on. I swear I don’t have OCD either…

Another very cool feature for all you note takers out there is the ability to check players notes from the main lobby without having to open the table they are at. If you are an avid note taker like I am, you like to check the notes you have on players at a table before sitting down. This saves time by viewing players’ notes without having to open the table up.

The last upgrade is the ability to sit out the next big blind. You can now check a box labeled “Sit Out Next BB” and you will automatically be sat out when you reach the big blind the next time. This is another monumental time saver for all you multi-tablers out there. It can be a hassle to un-check “Automatically Post Blinds” and then confirm that you want to sit out when the big blind gets to you for every table when you are playing a ton of them. This is a small upgrade, but one that is surprisingly useful to a small set of players.

Overall, well done Full Tilt. They have added a couple very useful features, but they did screw up their chance to get a step closer to PokerStars in the real money online tournament field. I am not sure why they felt the need to charge a 5% fee for T$ conversion. I guess they aren’t making enough money to pay their programmers that make all these software changes…

If you want to check out the changes, visit Full Tilt’s website or check out my Full Tilt Poker review for more info on the site.

More and more online poker sites are embracing Mac users though, and as a result, I have finally jumped into the world of online poker for a Mac! I thought other Mac users who have not yet played online poker would like to know my experience of trying to find the best poker site for a Mac platform computer. Also, at all of the sites below you can play free mac holdem poker.

My Search For The Best Online Poker Site For The Mac Platform

Score: 9.2/10

Bonus: 25% Instant Bonus

Bonus Code: Use Links

Mac Software: Download

Strength: The best download software

Sign Up

I first started off in familiar territory and downloaded the Mac platform poker client for BetOnline Poker. Unlike some online poker clients, BetOnline Poker offers a downloadable, fully featured software that is nearly identical to to the PC version. (USA Players Accepted)

It offers all the goodies of it’s PC brother with resizable tables, customizable player avatars and top-notch speed and performance. This is worth mentioning because many of the online poker sites that are available for the Macintosh are simple, no-frills JAVA based games with very simple graphics and sometimes sub-par performance (lag).

So, I have been playing on Lock Poekr for quite a while now my PC, and so far it looks pretty good that I will be staying with Lock on my new Macbook.

I should also note at this point that BetOnline Poker allows US players.

I couldn’t just leave well enough alone though. I had to try out some other poker rooms on my Mac and see if the grass is greener with another site.

Score: 8.3/10

Bonus: 100% up to $600

Bonus Code: Click Here

Mac Software: JAVA- No Download

Strength: Easy Competition.

Sign Up

The next site that I tried was 888 Poker. 888 Poker offers a no-download version of their poker software that can be used on any operating platform that has an internet browser. While I wasn’t particularly impressed with the smoothness of gameplay, the simple to use intuitive interface rivals Full Tilt.

The JAVA based program is actually much more advanced than I expected it to be, with resizable tables and a very easy multi-tabling feel. While the graphics are a bit choppy and washed out, this does not adversely affect the usability of the betting controls.

I used to play at 888 Poker in 2003 when I first began playing online poker, so it felt a bit nostalgic to play there again. Call me crazy, but I like the simple graphics, and somewhat jerky motion of the cards being dealt. My American friends are out of luck though as 888 Poker does not allow US players.

The one thing that no one can dispute about Pacific Poker is that they have always had some of the easiest players to play against on the internet. I was amazed again at just how bad the players can be, even at higher stakes! This of course is because 888 Poker is owned by 888.com, one of the largest online casinos. Many players who don’t even know the rules of poker come over to squander their craps winnings at the poker table!

Score: 8.5/10

Bonus: 100% up to $500

Bonus Code: 500PS

Mac Software: Download

Strength: FANTASTIC  no-download software.

Sign Up

The last site that have played at which I have played many times before is Party Poker. I have always liked Party Poker and I still like them on a Mac! The instant play  software they offer is incredible! I honestly cannot tell the difference between the no-download version and the download version of their software.

Party Poker is one of the largest poker rooms on the internet which is very important if you do not live in the United States and cannot play at peak US times. There are always many tables going at any limit.

This site does not accept USA players.

They offer an excellent sign up bonus of 100% up to $500 and it is pretty easy to clear.

All in all, you could do a whole lot worse than playing at Party Poker on your Mac.

My Final Verdict – Which Online Poker Site Is The Best For The Mac Platform?

The winner is Bet Online  Poker.

From their instant poker bonuses to their beautiful yet simple downloadable software package, BetOnline is the undisputed champion of Mac poker sites. 

If you have made it this far, then you definitely need to click this link and go sign up for BetOnline Poker at once. Go. What are you waiting for?

Here is what PokerStove does:

• Calculate win % of hand vs. hand with suits specified or unspecified.
• Calculate win % of a specific hand vs. a range of hands.

The first feature is standard on virtually all poker odds calculators, but the second feature is the meat and potatoes of Poker Stove.

Even the best players in the world cannot put an opponent on two specific cards while playing a hand. This is why putting a player on a range of hands is so important. Let me give you an example to show you what I mean:

A tight, straight-forward player raises under the gun. You know he would only raise 88+ and AJ+ from this position. This is the range of hands you can put your opponent on.

You can now use PokerStove to see how often your hand will win against the range that you put your opponent on. Versus 88+ and AJ+ the following hands win X% of the time.

• 55 – 37.6%
• AKo – 53.4%
• 89s – 32.1%

Download your free version of PokerStove here and start making better decisions at the table today.