What is a poker timer?
A poker timer, also known as a poker blind timer, is like a poker tournament clock. It serves to monitor the blinds throughout the game and lets you know when it’s time to increase the blinds throughout the tournament. It helps the game to flow and avoid any confusion with timings and blinds. All you need to do is set the first big blind and how long each round should be, and the poker game timer will do the rest!
There are several different types of poker game timers available today. The best poker timer will depend on whether you are playing a friendly game or a live poker tournament. For recreational players in private games, the preferred poker blind timer is often an app. In recent years there has been a massive increase in quality poker game timer apps available, many of which are for free.
What’s the best type of poker timer?
These days, the best poker timer apps are easy to set up and customise. Often you simply need to put in the number of players and amount of starting chips, and the app will automatically create a schedule for your game. Many poker tournament clock apps also have the option to program your voice and other sounds into the app to create various alerts. These poker tournament apps usually offer lots of other useful tools as well in order to enhance your game, such as players stats, league management, display of chip values and so on. Poker game timer apps help private poker games to flow better, and ensure the game stays fair and organized. (It’s especially useful if you like to have a few drinks with your friends when playing)! Some of the best poker tournament timers can be downloaded to your laptop. They often surpass the poker blind timer apps that are available and offer even more features to aid with the smooth running of your poker game.
In addition to blind structures, there are online poker timers that will show round times, players remaining, antes and calculate the prize amounts depending on the pot and much more. For many players however, a physical poker game timer is preferred. Whilst these digital poker blind timers and poker tournament clocks have a less extensive range of features than online timers, they tend to be more straight forward to operate, quicker to set up and easy to use. Of course, it’s also useful for when you don’t have a laptop to hand and everyone wants to keep their mobiles open for other uses. There are tons of different poker timers available to buy online, with something to suit all price ranges.
Why use a poker timer?
Using a poker tournament timer has many advantages. It can ensure friendly games run smoothly – keeping things fair and organized. Having a blind structure that is structured appropriately is essential to the flow and success of a tournament. In addition to alerting players when it is time to increase the blind, they help keep the pace of the game, making it ultimately more enjoyable for everybody. A poker game timer helps to keep tournaments and games moving along, particularly when there are players who are prone to getting sidetracked. A good poker timer allows the organizer to retain an element of control, while being able to remain arbitrary, relax and enjoy the game.
Conclusion
The pace of the game is maintained without any extra effort and everyone ultimately gets to enjoy a more professional and smoothly ran poker experience. With the massive selection now available, it’s understandably becoming an essential part of any decent poker kit.
