How good is PokerSpy?

[ferdy1985]

Hello everybody.

I am aware that there are programs like PokerOffice and PokerTracker out there, but I recently tried a demo of PokerSpy and really liked it and was considering buying it.

The main reasons I liked this was because I like the fact it is analysing real-time as opposed to importing hands on PT, and also that it displays alerts as to people's decisions on their actions.

I was wondering other people's opinions on this software, as I am very interested in buying it. But, I would like to have more opinions from those who have tried it out!

Thank you.

[TheCardGeek]

Ferdy,

I have Poker-Spy, and I like it alot. It is no replacement for PokerTracker - but the real time analysis does help when your first learning how to play. if your are an experienced player it may not be very helpful.

A few of it's drawbacks:

- It only tracks your last 5000 hands, so it is in no way as comprehensive as PT.
- It only works with Holdem.
- Takes up alot of space. I think this is a negligible issue, as it is of most use to players who are just learning, and they shouldn't be multitabling anyway.

[ferdy1985]

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, I have used the demo, and I did very much like the alert system on it, but getting that much use out of it was what I was worried about. I realise PokerTracker is also very good but I don't like that it is more of a software where you look at your play afterwards and see what to improve on, I would like to understand what is going on DURING the play, and I know there are programs like Calculatem which show you odds etc, but are there any other programs much like PokerSpy especially that tell you when someone is playing out of sync?

[tomtemor]

What do you mean with "analysing real-time" and "it displays alerts as to people's decisions on their actions"?

It only tracks the last 5k hands?

[bhudson]

All it does is display the last so many hands played by others. Rest is fluff. Roland has an AHK script that does the same.

[sosorry]

I own pokerspy.

Cons:
I find it's license check at startup and exit to be rather intrusive.
The first hand you are dealt at a table doesn't get realtime calculator stats.
If you are multi-tabling then its probably going to be too cumbersome unless you use a large resolution.
The Calculator and info panel don't work properly if the tables are resized.
It doesn't really have any options. You cant customize what info is displayed.
The calculator and alert windows don't remember positioning or sizing, and make the screen very cluttered.
Reporting not as advanced as other software.

Pros:
Simple and easy to use program.
Displays some useful info, I like seeing the last 17 hands everyone at the table played, who raised preflop, who won, what hands I've seen player X showdown, etc.


Summary:
Decent tool, it does what it says, but could be much better. Good for a beginner.


If I could go back in time I would have bought pokeroffice instead.