When we play poker online, we either press buttons or type in numbers. We constantly have our hands on the mouse or the keyboard in order to act in time, while at the same time we are thinking about our game. Maybe you can play perfectly and not getting tired but that is not the case for others. Most players find it difficult to calculate bet sizes compared to the pot, while others multitable over 4 tables and find it difficult to reload their chips over and over again. Fortunately, there is help available.

Although the following programs have been around for quite some time and I myself use them for many months, it seems that many experienced players neglect them while new ones haven't heard of them. Let's take a look at the most useful ones. Remember, they are all free to use.

The first and most important application to download and install is Auto Hot Key (AHK). It is the main application which will run the helpful scripts we are going to use. To read more about it, check out the Wikipedia page.

Next comes the chip reloader scripts. These scripts assign a key as a shortcut to reload chips at the poker tables. Depending on what poker site you usually play at, there are 3 main scripts available for download. The StarsAutoReloader for Pokerstars , the ChipReloader for Partypoker and Pokerstars tables and the FullTiltAutoReloader for FullTilt. Concerning the StarsAutoReloader you should probably also visit the related thread in the 2+2 forums. Obviously these scripts don't apply to tournaments.

Then comes the script about bet sizing. This is called BetPot and there's been a huge discussion about it in the forums. The latest update is here to download.

The scripts that are mentioned above should work 95% of the time and are all free. If you are running Vista, you must run the Auto Hot Key application as an administrator for each script. This is very important, since it's almost certain the scripts won't work otherwise. Other than that, I have made some changes to the scripts myself. For instance, I have changed the "BetPot" script by replacing the commands for Middle mouse button with the Right button's ones and vice versa. I believe they are easy to be edited and configured up to one's preferences.

Feel free to try them out for minimum stakes first, until you are familiar with them and to avoid any unnecessary damage they might cause if they malfunction. A complete list of all the AHK scripts available can be found here and they all can be downloaded with no cost.