Do I really need all the fancy software to play and win online poker?

[LouisCyphre]

You don't need to buy it but it helps.
You don't need to a hammer to put a nail in the wall. You could use a rock, a phone book or your palm. If you intend to put many nails into the wall I nevertheless suggest buying a hammer. If you intend to play lots of poker I suggest buying the software.

[runout_mick]

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I am not a winning player

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I multi-table

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Multitabling decrease both your learning rate, and your earning rate. If you're a losing player you'll be losing faster and learning slower.

Move down stakes and play less tables (1-2 max) until you're a proven winning player.

As far as the software, I recently stopped using it for gameplay and now only use it to find trends in my play in review. I found that this (in nl) has helped me to develop my hand reading skills. It's definitely not essential, but it does have it's uses.

[Yoshi63]

Can you open up a bunch of tables and leave it on overnight for a while to quickly accumulate stats about players? Or is this just stupid.

[runout_mick]

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Can you open up a bunch of tables and leave it on overnight for a while to quickly accumulate stats about players? Or is this just stupid.

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That's called datamining.

Some sites allow it, others don't.

[TheScientist]

There are sites out there with no poker tracker and no HUD support (so you wouldn't be at a disadvantage if you didnt feel like bothering with the software). Bugsys Club jumps to mind. The downside to these types of rooms is that game selection is limited.

[Nickerbocker]

I bought poker-spy a while back but havent used it in a long long time. Is poker-spy about the same thing or does PT blow it out of the water?

[Purple Haze]

Anyone with a good understanding of the game should be able to beat up to 2/4 at least with out the use of any software

[Mr Know It All]

software IMO is for dum or lazy people.y use software when u can exercise your brain to become also better live player.u dont have softwar at live game u use your brain carry on using brain and be even better long term

[Stan Loh]

But the thing is, when you are multi-tablings, its hard to remember your opponent's styles because there's such much going on. And it's different than the live game because you can't really get a read on your opponent online cause they don't show body language or anything like that.

[Mr Know It All]

very good point.