Knowing accurate video poker strategy is one of the most valuable casino skills you can have today. Many casinos offer video poker games that return more than 100% with accurate play, and almost all casinos offer video poker that can be profitably played for combined cash-back and comps. But you can't expect to do well at these games without learning the appropriate strategies.

Frugal Video Poker, PC software from Wolf Gaming Software, offers every feature I can imagine wanting in video poker software. It does "perfect play" practice like any respectable software should, but it also creates strategy charts and allows you to practice strategy chart play as well.

A strategy chart may offer a slightly less than optimal strategy for the tradeoff of simplicity, and this software lets you take that into account while practicing. But, if you want to play computer-perfect, you can practice that as well.

The software also has features that graph volatility, figure slot club cashback, and let you test strategies from one paytable against another to see the cost. Multi-play modes are available for triple play, five play and ten play, licensed from Action Gaming.

You can track multiple players, and evaluate their play individually. Errors can be tracked and replayed, so you can focus on only the hands that give you trouble.

In my own experience learning video poker, I found that software was a mandatory accessory to the strategy charts. When you're learning, the main problem is that you tend to overlook some possible hand decisions, not even noticing them. With the software pointing out your errors, you quickly learn to recognize all the possible choices in each hand.

If you're in the casino often, this $40 will pay for itself over and over again. Highly recommended!

Minimum hardware requirements:

• Windows 9X, ME, XP, NT 4.0+, 2000, 2003
• Pentium 100MHZ, 8 MB RAM
• SVGA 640 X 480 @ 256 Colors
• CD-ROM Drive
• Keyboard and Mouse
• Maximum Disk Space for Full Install of DirectX (usually less, if any) - 15 MB
• Disk Space for Frugal Video Poker - 9 MB