Texas Holdem Tutor by CPG

The first time you sit down in a cardroom, the hard part isn't the poker. It's that everyone at the table already knows when to act, how to get chips into the pot without a string bet, and what the dealer expects — and the $1/$2 game is not going to slow down to teach you. The tuition gets paid either way. The only question is whether you pay it in chips.

Texas Holdem Tutor is where you pay it first. It's a practice table with a patient dealer beside you, built for adults who intend to go play for real.

THE TABLE

A full 9-handed cash game at the stakes you'll actually meet. Real blinds, real side pots, real showdowns — and a real rake, 10% to a $5 cap plus $1 for the jackpot, dropped from every pot that sees a flop, because the money the house takes off the table is part of what the game costs and it belongs in your arithmetic from the first hand.

A dealer-voiced coach sits beside you the whole time. It narrates what is happening, tells you what it would do and why, and tracks which ideas you've actually shown you understand. As you demonstrate mastery its wording shortens, and once you have real hands behind you it offers to step back and let you play. Tap "Test me" and the exercise flips: the coach lays out the spot, asks you to decide first, then grades your answer.

You buy in for what a real $1/$2 game spreads — $100 to $300 — and the app keeps the running tally. A session feels like a session, including the ones you finish down.

THE CURRICULUM

18 lessons, in teaching order, across five areas:

• Rules & Mechanics — how a hand of casino hold'em actually runs, the betting actions, what beats what, and what your first session will feel like
• Casino Procedure & Etiquette — acting in turn, string bets and verbal declarations, and the table manners that mark you as someone who belongs there
• Basic Strategy — position, choosing starting hands, bet sizing, and reading your own hand correctly
• Poker Math — outs and the Rule of 4 and 2, pot odds, stack sizes and commitment, and what the rake and the tokes really cost you over a session
• Hand Reading & Opponents — the four player types, what a bet size is telling you, and live tells, including your own

Every lesson ends in a quiz, and the concepts you prove you know are the same ones the coach is tracking at the table. The two halves teach each other.

ALSO INSIDE

• A hand-rankings chart you can pull up mid-hand
• A "before you sit down" checklist for the walk up to the table
• Saved games, so a bankroll and a session survive closing the app
• A decision clock and a verbal-betting drill — the parts of a live table that have nothing to do with cards and cost beginners the most
• Four-color deck, table sound, and adjustable game speed
• Every screen holds up at your iOS text size, all the way to the Accessibility sizes

NOTHING IS AT STAKE HERE

The chips in this app have no cash value. There is no wagering, no way to buy chips, no way to cash out, and no real money anywhere in it. There are also no accounts, no sign-up, and no network — the game, the coach, and your progress live on your device and stay there.

ONE PURCHASE, AND THAT'S IT

No in-app purchases. No subscription. No ads. No chip packs — the chips aren't worth anything, so there'd be nothing to sell you. You buy the app once and every lesson, every hand, and every feature is already yours.

For the player who wants to walk in, find the seat, and play the hand right.