Pokertracker=horrible business model?

[aggie]

This may sound like rant but it was on my mind so i figured i'd see what others thought.

I'm fairly dissapointed with the progress PokerTracker has made over the years. Basically they've stayed up to date with new sites/site changes but have made very little improvement in their product. They seem content adding new users (because they have a monopoly) and letting other little companies (like pokeracehud etc.) pick up their scraps.

I think a big part of the reason is that they don't make any money from existing customers. I paid $50 for my software a few years ago and have not paid pokertracker another dime. But they're model won't last forever because online poker is going to stop growing the way it has in the past few years (less new users). It seems to me they need to figure out how to make money from existing customers....

The answer is simple. They need to operate like other software companies and charge existing customers for periodic new product releases (with significant added functionality)....They can charge an uprgrade fee to existing customers. I would gladly pay for significant upgrades. These upgrades should focus on making the product faster, making it look better, and eliminating the need for all the other little products that currently run off of pokertracker.

/rant

[emon87]

Not everyone's goal is to maximize every dime. I bet that Pat doesn't plan to retire off of Poker Tracker...

[Flint{$N}]

i thought they took steps to make it faster, i.e. implementing postgreSQL.

I can't think of anything crucial that I would pay for in an updated PT other than improved speed.

[aggie]

[ QUOTE ]
i thought they took steps to make it faster, i.e. implementing postgreSQL.

I can't think of anything crucial that I would pay for in an updated PT other than improved speed.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yea, part of the reason is because they currently update and upgrade their product for free...It just seems to me that they should be getting paid for new and improved functionality (not bug fixes of course).

[Shoe]

I agree they should have some type of fee for upgrades... but seriously, what are some "major upgrades" that poker tracker is currently lacking? Or are they supposed to re-invent how poker works and what stats are important to players out of thin air?

I think what you are asking for is much easier said than done. The next step I would see is approaching illegal. By this I mean, either they provide you with information they have collected on other players, or start automating your play (botting).

I agree that there is always room for improvement, but poker is always going to be poker. Eventually you are going to get a pretty damn good product that cannot really be improved that much upon (like the current version of pokertracker).

The reason other products can charge for updates (such as MMORPG's) is that their content is constantly being updated and expanded. Or in business applications, new business needs arise that need to be handled. But in poker, we are still playing the exact same game we were playing 5 years ago. Unless I am missing something huge (which if I am, you should be developing a product for), I don't see how much better poker tracker can actually get.

[aggie]

[ QUOTE ]
I agree they should have some type of fee for upgrades... but seriously, what are some "major upgrades" that poker tracker is currently lacking? Or are they supposed to re-invent how poker works and what stats are important to players out of thin air?

I think what you are asking for is much easier said than done. The next step I would see is approaching illegal. By this I mean, either they provide you with information they have collected on other players, or start automating your play (botting).

I agree that there is always room for improvement, but poker is always going to be poker. Eventually you are going to get a pretty damn good product that cannot really be improved that much upon (like the current version of pokertracker).

The reason other products can charge for updates (such as MMORPG's) is that their content is constantly being updated and expanded. Or in business applications, new business needs arise that need to be handled. But in poker, we are still playing the exact same game we were playing 5 years ago. Unless I am missing something huge (which if I am, you should be developing a product for), I don't see how much better poker tracker can actually get.

[/ QUOTE ]

The first thing i would do with pokertracker is give it a new look and feel. The current interface looks like a program built in the 90's. Make the GUI more windows like. You should be able to move snd customize the view and columns to view the stats the way you like.

The next thing they need to do is help users maximise the utility of the stats PT already provides. They do this by adding better graphing and charting functionality. They also need to improve GameTime+ etc. so customers no longer need to buy addon software. It's a pain needing to use more than one program when i'm playing or analysing my data.

After that the possibilities are endless. Perhaps add some AI that searches the database and finds possible weaknesses and areas for imprvement in ones game? The database pokertracker builds is a powerfull tool and their are so many possible uses for the data

[Shoe]

All great ideas. If poker tracker doesn't add these, I'm sure another product just as good as poker tracker will eventually. I would also be willing to pay an upgrade fee for these features.

[TheProdigy]

Hey,

The 8.1 upgrade to Postrgesql makes it muuuccchhh faster..like for me 4-5x faster atleast. It is released in the Postgresql forum

[ckboddic]

[ QUOTE ]
This may sound like rant but it was on my mind so i figured i'd see what others thought.

I'm fairly dissapointed with the progress PokerTracker has made over the years. Basically they've stayed up to date with new sites/site changes but have made very little improvement in their product. They seem content adding new users (because they have a monopoly) and letting other little companies (like pokeracehud etc.) pick up their scraps.

I think a big part of the reason is that they don't make any money from existing customers. I paid $50 for my software a few years ago and have not paid pokertracker another dime. But they're model won't last forever because online poker is going to stop growing the way it has in the past few years (less new users). It seems to me they need to figure out how to make money from existing customers....

The answer is simple. They need to operate like other software companies and charge existing customers for periodic new product releases (with significant added functionality)....They can charge an uprgrade fee to existing customers. I would gladly pay for significant upgrades. These upgrades should focus on making the product faster, making it look better, and eliminating the need for all the other little products that currently run off of pokertracker.

/rant

[/ QUOTE ]

[WarBus]

I have always thought Pokertracker should have gone with a similar business model as anti-virus/anti-spyware software. One year licenses for the software. If you don't renew, the software still works, but you are unable to get any updates and/or certain features are disabled.

The price of Pokertracker would still be the same. There would be options for one, two or three year licenses. The two and three year licenses would offer discounts.

With all the updates and the usefulness of the software, I would gladly pay $50 a year for it.