Is Poker Tracker a must?

[dOkAEbeEx]

Hi all,

Just a general question, I was wondering if Poker Tracker or other poker software was required if you wanted to get serious about online poker. Do the pros use software when they play online or is it all in the head? Please no flame. Responses appreciated.

-struggling poker addict

[Teddie]

Pokertrakcer wont suddenly make you a good player. It's not like you will download, install it, load in a few hands and bam - suddenly your ripping up the tables.

It just helps finding leaks in your game which if stop will improve you as a player.

I think its definitly a must, but only if you use it the right way and put in alot of time going through all the stats.

I have only recently download gametime, and oviously it needs pokertracker to work but gametime be a huge help too your game straight away.

[uDevil]

No, it's definitely not required. It is helpful to track your play, analyze your stats, and to replay and study hands. During play, it is helpful with a heads-up display (PokerAce, Gametime+) to categorize your opponents, especially if you multitable. If you only play one or two tables at a time, and you pay attention and take good notes, you can probably do just as well without it as with it.

I don't think most of us get nearly the benefit from PokerTracker that we could, either because we don't know how to use the information it gives us, or we're just to lazy to do the study and analysis.

[notreallymyname]

Poker tracker on its own is essentially a poker research tool and will take a very long time to pay for itself unless you have some glaring leaks. The database it creates however is immensely useful when interpreted by other programs, particularly HUDs. A player with a HUD has a definite advantage over a player without one, although the fewer tables you play the less help it is.

Of course, just being able to look at your lifetime graph as a winning player has anti-tilt value in a downswing, and losing players could benefit greatly from seeing just how hopeless they are.

[Gonso]

It's not "essential" in the sense that you can certainly succeed without it, but for my part I think PT is far too useful to pass on if you want to play seriously online. In conjunction with PA HUD (forget gametime), it's very handy if you play against a large player pool and multi-table, but even aside from that it's such a great record keeping tool for analysis.

I don't dispute that a lot of PT's benefit goes to waste, but what little most players do use has to be worth a fraction of a NL200 buy-in.

[Poker Plan]

Worth it for automated record keeping alone- but it does soooooooooooooooooo much more than that.

But as others have said- it's not a miracle cure for bad play.