Is Poker Tracker Worth it?
Poker and Tracking: PokerTracker
If you’re going to be playing any amount of online poker, you’re going to run into references to a software program called PokerTracker – “PT” for short – sooner rather than later. Poker Tracker is a third-party poker-hand analysis program used by hundreds of thousands of online players. It’s not used by everyone, particularly casual players, but the more dedicated players use at as a tool for both self-analysis and for determining trends of their opponents.
Poker Tracker 4 is a standalone program (available at pokertracker.com) with various capabilities designed to track your play in either or both no-limit hold’em or Omaha. One can spend up to $150 for a complete version of the product with all bells and whistles that tracks both hold’em and Omaha play. Short-term trials of the products, lasting 60 days from the time of installation, are also available.
How Does Poker Tracker Work?
Poker Tracker works by accumulating an ever-increasing database of all your hands played, on all of the major online poker websites. In addition to providing a detailed analysis of your wins and losses across your online sessions, the software also offers detailed breakdowns against each or all of the opponents you’ll face.
Poker Tracker, however, does much more. It analyzes the nature of your play itself, and with experience in its use, allows you to uncover flaws in your game, to improve your actions at the table and increase your overall profitability. Poker Tracker is also often combined with another type of program called a poker heads-up manager (“HUD”), to provide an overlay on the player’s screen for each player, providing a handful of stats that show each opponent’s statistical profile and basic tendencies. The latest version, PT 4, even includes its own HUD for live-time analysis. The combination of Poker Tracker with some HUDs, however, is viewed as an artificial assist during live play, and can run afoul of some sites’ Terms of Conduct (ToC) regarding fair online play. Rest assured, though, that the use of Poker Tracker as an archiving and hand-analysis tool is fully legal and recognized by all major sites.
What are Some Poker Tracker Features?
Once the PT software is installed and sessions of hands have been imported for analysis, Poker Tracker provides a statistical interface for ongoing analysis. Some of the most important fields concern player aggression, which can be analyzed separately for each segment of the hand – i.e.: pre-flop, post-flop, turn, river aggression. Other primary features examine hand selection, play patterns, and the effects of seat position at a table. Getting into a hand too often with that suited A-9 from middle position? Not only can Poker Tracker isolate such hands from your database, it shows you exactly where your biggest mistakes are being made.
Use Poker Tracker for a bit, and such commonly used terms as “BB/100” (big blinds per 100 hands won or lost), “VP$IP” (amount of dollars voluntarily put into a pot), aggression factors, and steal or showdown percentages won’t seem to be arcane. Rather, they’ll be a part of your weaponry as you improve your game and profitability. A counter part to Poker Tracker is Sharkscope, which tracks SitnGo Tournaments.
Author: Joseph Falchetti (twitter)
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