[Pistol Pete]

someone told me at table yesterday that the see im a good player and how many sit and go's on won on sharkscope. Kinda pissed me off that these softwares exist but everyone needs to make a buck huh. Anyways has anyone here used one other then just free sample? If so is it helpful or worth the money spent? I play alot of sit and go's a week so maybe it be worth it, hey if there using it I might as well.

[Santo]

I use poker tracker for ring games and rating players, as well as my own play and sessions. Don't know how it is for SnG's

[MrX]

I've never used any, but I've had other players remark on my return and it seems that they are pretty accurate. My guess is that they are probably worth the money.

[jjgold]

http://pokercharts.com/

Pretty good and I think free

[LVHerbie]

I use pokertracker and gametime+ (which overlays the statistics on the screen)... I actually think it takes away alot from the game but everyone else is using it, and the sites openly allow it, so you are definently lossing money if you're not... It works real well at profiling players but you have to play at one site for quite awhile before you start getting enough data to be useful after just sitting down... I bonus hunt alot of different sites it has alot less value for me then site regulars....

There is also software out there that datamines the sites but most sites strongly frown upon this and I know Party can and willl detect you using this other crap and ban you if they catch you...

Basically, the opinions of sites are that you can do what you want with your own hand histories but if you start swapping them around or accessing mass databases then you're cheating... How aggressive they are about catching this type of cheating is open for debate, although at least Partypoker is know to go aggressively after them (by detecting what you run in the background)...

[jesterson]

I too use pokertracker (www.pokertracker.com) and it is the best $50 I've ever spent on anything poker related. It's paid for itself 20 times over using it in conjunction with gametime+. Poker is a game of information, and PT convienently organizes and displays all the important information from how often the player puts their money in to what known hands they raise on to how often they raise preflop and so on. If you are at all considering getting it, it's a no-brainer and will almost instantly make you more profitable, assuming you're not a moron.

It works on most sites with SNGs and if that's all you play, it will be of use to you, especially for recognition of someone you've played against in the past. Personally, I like it better for ring games though, as tournament stats are often skewed due to stack:blind ratio and the nature of a tournament.

Where do you play Pete?

[Pistol Pete]

I play only at full tilt so I know in a short time this would be very useful. Only thing is I use my IMac to play on full tilt. When I went to poker tracker website didnt see if it is supported on Mac

[jesterson]

Well, it's an MS Access database, so if you can use that, you should be OK. You can always check the FAQs or email Pat (the designer of it, his e-mail should be on the site) and you'll get an answer in no time. If you are a serious player, this program is an absolute must!

[jdennis111]

there is good info here for mac tracking software : http://blog.macpokertools.com/2008/0...-software.aspx

[Al Masters]

Tracking devices are a must have....A MUST HAVE,if you play half seriously.

I only play at PS and FT, with 90%of that PS, PS has their own list of trackers that they consider illegal,there are many many tracking devices out there.

Here's a small list of good tracking methods.

thepokerdb which you can get to by going to bluffmagazine.com.
officialpokerrankings.com
sharkscope.com
pokertracker.com.
pokerpropecy.com.....illegal to use at some sites.
pokercrusher.com '' '' '' ''

Just for the record,i would much prefer to play without them being available to anyone, but since they are out there, not using them only gives your opponents an extra edge.

Something laying -115 every game without using them.

If you play 5 hours a week for fun, don't worry about using them, if you play regularly and don't like bothering with them, always keep 1 thing in the back of your mind, theres a good chance your opponents know alot more about you then you about them.(NOT A PROFITABLE WAY TO GAMBLE).

[accuscoresucks]

i use the built in software rack back provides so i know how much im getting credited every month in rake back

[spike1519]

poker tracker and poker ace hud (which i think is now included in poker tracker version three and above) are far and away the very best with every stat you could ever want on everyone at your table and it's heads up display puts that info right where you want it I.E next to the player above him E.T.C . Sharkscope is not worth it and its tournament results are scewed to the tourney dollars. plus it has an ongoing fee. poker Tracker you buy it you own it forever and with the S.Q.L database you can keep all kinds of custom stats. The whole thing is customizable and it will get as technical as you want or as simple as you want. get it or be a victim of it nuff said..........spike............

[jjgold]

Not bad

many do not use it because too cheap

[smoke a bowl]

All information is good information.