Since live games are on hold, I started playing online again and wanted to see if PokerTracker is worth it for analysis and tracking. If anyone has an experience with the tool and could provide insights with some it’s functionality I would appreciate it.
PokerTracker?? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter cfowl23
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Eloe2000
Straight Flush
I can’t speak to that one but based on recommendations here I am using Poker Bankroll Tracker and highly recommend it. I am using the free version but you can pay to remove ads and add some additional features but the free version is fine.
DrStrange
4 of a Kind
The competent use of a good Heads Up Display <HUD> is an almost unbeatable advantage over other people playing blind. It is absolutely worth the cost.
Be mindful the "Cost" is more than the money spent for the software. You need to learn how to use it and that takes time and study. The default settings are certainly helpful, but it is the customized stats that will prove more valuable eventually.
The default settings are overly focused on preflop action and aggression. Which is a fine place to start. You will have far more preflop data on villains than post flop data. But the biggest decisions are post flop. The HUD can help there as well. Be mindful that it takes a while to get any sort of sample size. And you almost never will have "statistical significance" My mantra is "some data is better than no data".
I would never play for money without a HUD if it were available. I hope you don't either. -=- DrStrange
Be mindful the "Cost" is more than the money spent for the software. You need to learn how to use it and that takes time and study. The default settings are certainly helpful, but it is the customized stats that will prove more valuable eventually.
The default settings are overly focused on preflop action and aggression. Which is a fine place to start. You will have far more preflop data on villains than post flop data. But the biggest decisions are post flop. The HUD can help there as well. Be mindful that it takes a while to get any sort of sample size. And you almost never will have "statistical significance" My mantra is "some data is better than no data".
I would never play for money without a HUD if it were available. I hope you don't either. -=- DrStrange
200 Motels
Flush
I think it's worth it. I assume you're playing on ACR? I think it's more worth it if you're a cash player (You get bigger hand sample sizes and more accurate stats on players in cash), and I'm not sure how much cash traffic they get. I've only seen their tourneys on stream.
It's still very valuable for the Hand History review, assuming that you actually review hands on the reg. Something I don't do enough of.
It's still very valuable for the Hand History review, assuming that you actually review hands on the reg. Something I don't do enough of.
LotsOfChips
Flush
HUDs are one of the main reasons I don't play on P* and other large commercial online sites. As Dr. Strange says above, "The competent use of a good Heads Up Display <HUD> is an almost unbeatable advantage over other people playing blind".
There are literally tens of thousands of online grinders equipped with HUDs, and they know how to use them. They don't even need to have played directly against you, there are databases available for sale that have every move and every hand that anyone has ever played online (P* claims to prohibit the use of such databases, but then makes the data readily available to the database vendors).
Poker Mavens and a group of known players for me.
There are literally tens of thousands of online grinders equipped with HUDs, and they know how to use them. They don't even need to have played directly against you, there are databases available for sale that have every move and every hand that anyone has ever played online (P* claims to prohibit the use of such databases, but then makes the data readily available to the database vendors).
Poker Mavens and a group of known players for me.
boltonguy
Flush
I have been using PokerTracker4 for over a year and IMHO it is definitely worth it. The HUD has value but so does tracking every hand you play and all hands played at the tables youre at. You can replay and analyze hands right in PT4 and they have a leak tracker you can run by position to see how youre playing. It has been a huge contributor to my improvement. I spent most of 2019 playing .02/.05 and in November got serious about using PT4 and studying, In Jan I moved up to .05/.10 and this week started playing .10/.25 and PT4 has played a major role in building my skills through analysis.
StatTracker
Two Pair
PokerTracker is great, comes with a 14 day free trial
SirFatalx
High Hand
How do you like Poker Mavens? Was interesting in creating home cash games online at some point with it and was going to try the trial.
LotsOfChips
Flush
Love it!
Check out this thread - very long, but has a ton of reviews, setup advice and info on Poker Mavens. Also discusses Pokerrrr and a few other options. Worth the read.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/online-home-poker.54141/
Last edited:
boltonguy
Flush
I think 10k hands is a good statistical base
DrStrange
4 of a Kind
Sample size varies greatly with what you are trying to learn and what sort of poker is played.
If the sample is for self reflection, you can get a reasonable meta-perspective in big bet games with 10,000 hands, perhaps less. But if you are playing limit poker, where the variance is much bigger than the win rates, you'll need at least a hundred thousands hands.
If the sample is for villain identification, you have to learn to live with the uncertainty of small or even tiny sample sizes. For example, say a villain sits at your full ring table and plays the first ten hands. What can you say about that? Could be he is posturing, though that is futile in a world with lifetime records. Could be he hit a super lucky run of starting cards. Could be he is quite loose. Thing is, you can relatively quickly make some overall assumptions about certain villains.
However, if you wonder about river bluffs vs value bets, you will be wondering a long time. How often do you get to see the villain's hand after he takes aggressive river action? It is relatively rare, you might need weeks worth of table time to get a couple of dozen data points. So here, you will be mostly using other poker skills as your HUD doesn't have even a marginal sample. You should lean in on your HUD reads for sure, but take into account the other information as well.
As for evaluating your play . . . . . better to post hand histories than HUD data. Please only one hand at time. And remember good results does not mean well played. Not does bad result mean poorly played. Pick hands that seem interesting to you or that caused you to ponder, remembering that a lot of money changes hands in pots where one pair was a contender.
Good luck -=- DrStrange
If the sample is for self reflection, you can get a reasonable meta-perspective in big bet games with 10,000 hands, perhaps less. But if you are playing limit poker, where the variance is much bigger than the win rates, you'll need at least a hundred thousands hands.
If the sample is for villain identification, you have to learn to live with the uncertainty of small or even tiny sample sizes. For example, say a villain sits at your full ring table and plays the first ten hands. What can you say about that? Could be he is posturing, though that is futile in a world with lifetime records. Could be he hit a super lucky run of starting cards. Could be he is quite loose. Thing is, you can relatively quickly make some overall assumptions about certain villains.
However, if you wonder about river bluffs vs value bets, you will be wondering a long time. How often do you get to see the villain's hand after he takes aggressive river action? It is relatively rare, you might need weeks worth of table time to get a couple of dozen data points. So here, you will be mostly using other poker skills as your HUD doesn't have even a marginal sample. You should lean in on your HUD reads for sure, but take into account the other information as well.
As for evaluating your play . . . . . better to post hand histories than HUD data. Please only one hand at time. And remember good results does not mean well played. Not does bad result mean poorly played. Pick hands that seem interesting to you or that caused you to ponder, remembering that a lot of money changes hands in pots where one pair was a contender.
Good luck -=- DrStrange
BonScot
Straight Flush
I would recommend it. Good for seeing how your opponents play but way more useful for identifying leaks in your own game. I’ve definitely improved a lot since I started using it.
moose
4 of a Kind
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