Online poker Software.

[thinsy147]

I"m finally gonna stop being a tight*rse and invest in some online help. What are your views on Hold Em Manager/Poker Tracker?


I play:
Mainly MTT"s ($1-$50)
Some SnG"s ($3-$20)
Very occasionally HU ($1-$10) for quick entertainment.

Cash Tables don"t really do it for me.

Have you had experience with both programs?
Which did you prefer?
Did you find it worth the money?

Please comment/advise......

[mporter123]

Firstly, take advantage of the free trials. I have used both Holdem Manager and Pokertracker and both will give you very generous free trial periods with almost all of the most important functions.

Pokertracker is my favourite for its functionality. I believe there is a new version of HEM that is coming out fairly soon so it is worth taking a look into that as some of the new features look very impressive on first glance.

Both pieces of software are good for keeping an eye on how much you are winning or losing if you dont already. You can spreadsheet all your results, show win rates etc etc etc.

The HUD is probably the part that you would be most interested in. The best thing to do is watch a video on HUD set up. There are tonnes out there, a couple of good ones on Deuces Cracked. Getting the most out of a HUD set up can make a big difference to your earnings IMHO.

I would say that the HUD in particular is most useful for cash games where you come across the same players regularly. The problems with HUDS in tournaments is that as the blinds increase it will effect stats and can sku data but I believe there are ways to rectify this. That is not to say that HUDS and tracking software cannot be used effectively for tournament players, particularly if you like to multitable. There are many players that exhibit such obvious leaks that a HUD will pick up and you can adjust your play according.

Saying that, don't fall into the trap of becoming overly reliant on stats that the HUD shows and ensure that you don't label players after only a small sample size of hands. Use the HUD and tracking software in general as guidance, make adjustments but don't be afraid to go with reads.

The long and short of it is get a trial version of the software , put some time into understanding it and use it every time you play. You are at a significant disadvantage if you don't, at the cash tables or in tournaments.

[Marty719]

HEM ftmfw...

[thinsy147]

Thanks mporter123,

Looked into the free trail offers last night. PT offers a 60 day trial and HEM offers a 15 day trial. I attempted to download the HEM but it wouldn"t work. Something about the data storage would not load. I"m guessing it might be my security settings or something but after a couple of hours searching for help and trying different things I got annoyed and fed up!! Anyone had this problem too?

If there is very little between them maybe my next challenge will be to try and download the PT trail.

Thanks Marty719,

I appreciate the time you took to reply to my PM earlier too.

[AMRN]

I"m a long time user of PokerTracker, but have recently had a play with HEM. I decided to stay with PT - for what I need, it does everything very well.   I play mostly SNGs and MTTs, with a little bit of cash occasionally.  When I play SNGs, I tend to play between 4 and 8 at a time, and the HUD is an absolute essential.  I used to track all my buyins and returns manually in a spreadsheet to keep the P&L current - PT does that extremely well across all forms.  

[Sef]

I have never used poker tracker but use HEM and i would feel no need to change as it does the job perfectly IMO

[rudders]

It"s cheating   lol

Poker tracker is best

But im in the Anti software corner [probarly on my own]

//This is rudder jnr just realised i was logged onto my dads account

[thinsy147]

Had trouble downloading HEM, so went for PT!

All loaded ok and have started playing a tournament. Information was all there for me to see at the table but I"ve just been re-seated at another table and nothing is showing now. Is there something I need to do?

[pables]

Had trouble downloading HEM, so went for PT!

All loaded ok and have started playing a tournament. Information was all there for me to see at the table but I"ve just been re-seated at another table and nothing is showing now. Is there something I need to do?

Bang the top of your PC...........always works for me  

[thinsy147]

Had trouble downloading HEM, so went for PT!

All loaded ok and have started playing a tournament. Information was all there for me to see at the table but I"ve just been re-seated at another table and nothing is showing now. Is there something I need to do?

Bang the top of your PC...........always works for me  

I didn"t even have to do that.... All I had to do was get moved to another table for one hand before getting moved again, and it all came back!!  

[AMRN]

Had trouble downloading HEM, so went for PT!

All loaded ok and have started playing a tournament. Information was all there for me to see at the table but I"ve just been re-seated at another table and nothing is showing now. Is there something I need to do?

the HUD won"t appear at your new table until you"ve played a hand there... PT doesn"t know who the players are until the first hand is recorded and imported.

However, if you are playing on iPoker, there is a long standing bug in PT which stops the HUD displaying after a table move. In that circumstance you would have to stop and restart the auto-import.

[thinsy147]

the HUD won"t appear at your new table until you"ve played a hand there... PT doesn"t know who the players are until the first hand is recorded and imported.

However, if you are playing on iPoker, there is a long standing bug in PT which stops the HUD displaying after a table move. In that circumstance you would have to stop and restart the auto-import.

I was on iPoker and I think I did stop and restart (amongst other things!!)  and it started again.. Thanks.

My HUD shows VP;PR;AFq (i think thats what it was)

What is the most helpful info to have?
How do you interpret it?

i.e. if a player read: VP64;PR33;AFq67

would you consider him a loose/agressive?

[AMRN]

My HUD shows VP;PR;AFq (i think thats what it was)

What is the most helpful info to have?
How do you interpret it?

i.e. if a player read: VP64;PR33;AFq67

would you consider him a loose/agressive?

hope those aren"t your stats!!  

There"s a good reference site HEREthat talks about the majority of these stats, particularly in relation to cash games.

It"s now up to you to decide what you want to see on your HUD, and different people will have differing preferences.  I have several profiles I use dependant on whether I"m playing cash, MTT, or STT, and whether I"m playing less than 2 tables or more than 2 tables (screen space becomes a premium).

ie for multitabling STTs, my HUD shows #Hands, VPIP, PFR on top line, and on bottom line it shows Fold BB to steal, Att to Steal, and Fold Steal to Blind Reraise.  This tells me just about what I need to know at a glance when switching quickly between windows.

I"m sure others on here could give you a decent HUD setup for cash play.

[thinsy147]

Thanks AMRN:

My stats were similar to that at one point  

But I started a tournament last night with hands something like:

Hand 1: QQ
Hand 2: KK
Hand 4: AQ
Hand 6: 66



Anyway,

I want to use it for MTT"s. I usually don"t do more than 2 games at once. What would you all recomend as useful information? (You say 2nd line info?? I can add more than just 3 types of info?) I really need to do more playing and tweeking tonight!! (the missus will be pleased)

Thanks for any help!

[AMRN]

You can add as many or as few as you want/need.

In PT3 (without an import running), go to \Configure\Configure HUD. Click Options and create a new profile (best to copy the default tournament profile to use as a base setup) and give it a new name. Then go to the Stats tab, and here you will see the stats currently listed in your HUD.  Here you can add/delete stats, and in the properties window you can change colours, headings for stats etc (when you are used to your HUD you can remove the headings - they just waste space).

How you config your HUD kind of depends on the way you play the game and what info you want to see on other players when making decisions. I like to know who is more likely to fold their steal to a re-raise from the blinds - that"s probably the stat I pay most attention to in conjunction with VPIP, PFR, and Att to Steal.

There are loads of threads on 2+2 and PokerTracker"s own forum (and many other forums) about the most appropriate HUD setups.