For all internet players....

I am considering getting a new setup. Looking for some ideas.



-What is your current system? (Laptop, desktop etc.)

-What software do you have and use (Pokerstove, Pokertracker etc.)

-What would be the ultimate setup?

You dont need much to run poker stuff.

Id spend the bulk of your money on a decent monitor!!

Current system: IMB Thinkpad A31, 1.2GHz with 500MB RAM and a 200GB hard drive in two partitions running XP Pro. This laptop has a 15" screen.

I'll be getting something like a 2.6GHz dual-core system with 3GB of RAM and a 320Gb HD (in one partition) running Vista Home Premium 64-bit which will be plenty to run any poker program. It'll probably have a 22" screen.

I pretty much only use PokerTracker 3.

If you are a ring game player, Hold'em Manager & PokerTracker 3 are probably your best options.

If you play tournaments, I hear you should stick with PokerTracker 3.

Pretty much any new computer you get will more than meet the needs of poker software for years to come.

Any new system will be fast enough as far as the processor goes.

Get the most memory you can, and the biggest monitor you can.

Poker tracker will, IMO, in the end be the best software investment. At this moment Hold'em Manger (HEM) is a current fave, but it , at this time, has little to no tourney support.

If I were to design a dream machine it would Have an AMD quad core processor, 6+ gig of memory, at least a 1 Terrabyte HD, and great speakers, along with a true HD screen so in a pinch I could watch HD TV. I would probably design it with a TV card and maybe even a BlueRay drive, but only if it was a R/W DL DVD capable drive. Though I might wait until I could write Blue Ray disks. This might never happen though as everything BlueRay is licensed and so far the licensing folks are being slow to let them get cheap.

I have laptop+24" monitor and have HEM and a few scripts for multi-tabling on Stars. What kind of games are you playing? dj's right about HEM vs. PT. HEM is much better imo (and if you play 50nl or under I think it is it has a discount and is like $35 cheaper iirc) but doesn't track tourneys at all. It'll keep all the hands from tourneys logged but it doesn't have any support for tracking the results of the tourneys and winnings.

I would get as many softwares as possible to search for good freerolls. One tourney tracker is propbally more than enough. If you get a mac you can only use full tilt and pokerstars.
-Macs don't support ultimate bet, cake poker, carbon poker or bodog.

This is what im running with PT3 and a 19"LCD monitor.....

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-What is your current system? (Laptop, desktop etc.)
Dell Desktop

-What software do you have and use (Pokerstove, Pokertracker etc.)
None, I think it's cheating. You can't use it in a live game, why should you use it online? (Just my opinion)

-What would be the ultimate setup?
Don't know. lol (I'm sure I was a lot of help)

- Current System?
12" Apple PowerBook G4 (laptop).

-Software
Poker Copilot (my only real choice on the Mac). And on the topic of software I primarily use it to better analyze my game after I play rather than track the tendencies of my opponents during a game.

-Ultimate Setup
24" iMac w/4GB of Ram & 3.06GHz processors.

this forum sucks

Whilst everyone is entitled to an opinion, not all opinions are valid.

How rude!

Dell 30 inch is a must.

Thanks for all the feedback. We recently moved to a new home and I added my desktop to our entertainment system. 40" flatscreen used as a monitor and a wireless keyboard and mouse. Sounded cool but in practicality I was not able to see all the details from the couch and we primarily use the room for tv. I have been using my wife's laptop and she felt I was monopolizing it for poker. (lol) She has decided to get me my own laptop for x-mas and I am going to install Poker Traker3. I had the beta and really liked it but did not want to install the purchased version on her laptop. Now that I have the freedom to add whatever I want I was looking to see if anyone had an "ultimate" setup. I primarily am playing 9 man Sit & go's as that is what I appear to be profitable in and am building my bankroll. I need to find the holes in my cash game...thus the PT3. I find that I am uncomfortable running more than three tables at a time but may add a multi screen setup in the future....still thinking about it. We don't have a dedicated office in this house, instead we have a bonus room that is set up for the kids...Desktop, wii, musical instruments etc. So I think the laptop is best as I can use it wherever I am in the house...again thanks for the input.

If you are thinking about getting a laptop, get a Dell

I used to work in computing and I can honestly say that no other manufacturer makes a laptop anywhere near as good as a Dell.

We reguraly took 4 and 5 year old Dells out of service (because they were considered end of life) but the equipment is very robust and these laptops used to look practically brand new after 5 years use!!!


I have evaluated many other manufactures and TBH 6-12 months down the line they start to fall apart. They look flimsy!!

Obviously these were work laptops and wernt given the care a home laptop would be given. To me that just proves how well the dells are built!!!

Spec wise.. you really dont need much!!

Just buy the most you can afford. Dont skimp too much because you are looking for a machine that wont need replacing until 2013/2014!!!

the pen is mightier than the sword...invest in knowledge instead of hardware...unless u really want to that is

Poker isn't that resource intensive (the tracking software maybe a little more), any new computer you get should be more than adequate to handle MT'ing several tables with PT3 or HEM on.

I would suggest spending more of your money on monitors and a video card if necessary (if you buy a pre-fab the video card will not be that great and you may have problems with dual monitors or larger resolutions). I don't MT as much as alot of people but it is nice to be able to have all my games on one screen and other computer stuff (mainly browsers/ poker videos/ etc) on the other.

i dont feel like all that hevy duty stuff is necessary, i just use a simple HP DV4500 17 inch screen laptop to play on stars, i dont use poker tracker or anything of that nature.

I,like,my,dell,laptop,it,handles,the,occasional,sp illed,beer.
well,except,for,the,spacebar.

I have a dell inspiron 6400 laptop, with intel T1500 duo processor with xpmedia, had it for almost 3 years, it has never let me down, just bought the girlfriend the dell 1525 for her xmas.

I suggest you go to your local computer show and have a computer made for you with exactly what you want. Buying a ready made computer from a company (Dell, HP or any) will give you lots you don't want at added prices. In addition you can't really uninstall their crap software without ruining their warranty.

Get a 24" monitor though for sure, whatever you get.

I have 3 computers, all desktops, ranging from 1.2gig to 3gig, I sit in the middle if I'm playing and surf and sometimes play even on two computers on two different sites.

Max out the memory on whatever system you get.