No Software - Disadvantage?

Is it really that bid a disadvantage to not have some sort of software on a site like Full Tilt? I know it really is a nice feature...but how lost am i without it?

You mean a HUD, like PokerTracker or Hold'em Manager?

If you're playing one table at a time and you are paying attention there's not much advantage. You look at the stats to confirm things (like yes he did try to steal 4/5 times, or yeah he almost always makes a continuation bet) but if you're paying attention it's just confirming what you already know.

In S&G's I pretty much only use the HUD to see the cards that people mucked at showdown. You can look in the hand history to see them, but having them pop up automatically is nice. Each stage of the tournament is different, so stats can be misleading as people change gears depending on their stack-to-blinds ratio.

Now, if you're playing six, 9-player tables, that's up to 48 opponents to keep track of. So the stats come in really handy.

Also, let's say someone who you've played with before comes to the table. You might not remember him from the thousands of other people you've played before, but now you have stats on all the hands you two have played together. So you can start snapping off his bluffs and stuff immediately, before you relearn how he plays.

I got PokerTracker 2 back when I was playing $10NL, and it paid for itself in a few weeks.

I've had pretty good success playing without any software. I never seriously considered it, due to security concerns and cost (not even sure if these are justifiable concerns). I also generally only play one tourney at a time.

Lately I've had a weird feeling that a few players seem to be acting out of character, as if they have some information about me that I'm not aware of. But I can't tell the difference between what might be a tell on my part, or perhaps just odd, if not actually bad, play on their part.

Keep this in mind;

Live players have no active software.

But they may be sharp as a tack at remembering things, and so when playing online if you are not sharp as a tack at remembering things, minute things, then yes, you are at a disadvantage if you are not using some sort of memory aid.

The legal software we often mention around here, are all memory aids, they present each user with facts about previous plays and individual tendencies so that we can free our minds to decide the really important things like world peace, government medical programs and whether to shove 7-2o against the table maniac......

I was a reluctant convert myself. But I sort of think of these software suites like MS Office for a PC. Sure you can do without them, or find other cheaper ways, but they make things soooo much easier.

Like what? (what info.). You've lost me here with this response.


I think the post above by SP pretty much sums it up. Only thing I'd like to add is... if you're playing SNG's or MTT's, just one or two tables at a time, as long as you're paying attention & "Taking Notes" then you prob don't need the software. Also... if you're 'taking notes'... you will already have alot of info. on them if you happen to get on another table with them (actually I see many of the same opponents on the tables, sometimes 4 who I've seen before).

If you're multi-tabling cash tables, get software (or perhaps get it prior to that if you have intentions of multi-tabling in the future so that you can become better acquainted with it).

Mostly players re-raising when I'm clearly pot-committed and the chip stacks just don't make sense, or calling my preflop 3bet out of position when I've demonstrated tight play. That kind of thing.

It might just be very aggressive play and/or me being paranoid, but I'll see if I can find any instances from my hand history. Since I don't use a HUD, I was mostly just concerned that I'm missing some sort of weakness in my own play.

As far as I am aware, this is one of the major advantges of using software like poker tracker. They give you an easy way to go back and analize your hands one by one to see if you would have done anything different second time around.

When you build a list of data, you know who steals from the SB, the button you don't need software..

for me, softwares are horrible... and you play live. you don't have anything. so you need to use your memory... playing online paying atention will improve that and you are going to become a good player. a good reader...

One word. Yes.

It IS an advantage so take it. Even if you don't use the HUD ( I can't see why you wouldn't) the most useful part of poker software is it's ability analyse your own game. You can easily find leaks in your game you never knew you had.

At 10NL and up it is essential as far as i'm concerned.

This is why good online players out class live players.

online players have tonnes of information to sift through and study. They can continually refine their own play. They play against tougher and tougher opponents.

Live players have no such information and therefore progress at a slower rate.

It s far far easier for a decent online player to move to live play than it is for a live player to move to online as the online player's basic game is a lot stronger than his live counterpart.

The online player will still need to adapt to live play, but its an easier task than the move from live to online,

The quality of your advice is reflected in the quality of your grammar.

I think I should highly consider using some sort of software like HUD or poker tracker, I'm just reluctant to shell out extra money especially with my bankroll constantly dwindling as of late. Is there any free software out there worth picking up...I know poker tracker has a free trial but besides that?

sorry to defer from the subject slightly but its only a small question about PT, if often find that the boxes with the players stats in overlap the call/raise buttons.

Is there a way to decrease their size without reducing the amount of info?

currently running
*/*/*
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Thanks.

Manually adjust the size of the font for each stat.

thanks stu much appriciated

No probs.

Unfortunately there isnt a drag and drop stretch method (there should be)

But the size of and style of each HUD stat can be altered. (I think the default minimum on the slide bar is 8 but you can type in lower values)

I've done alright with no software. I'm also more of a live player.. and I'm no pro, either.

I think the software is essential and especially PF and on the Flop.

lol very few humans could assign exact hand ranges from memory and the HUD just gives it to you. Honestly, you see a guy raising alot and it tells you his exact range, it is in black n white. How can a human do it any better?

My problem with the HUD is it can tilt me and i can mis-read the information. But as far as PF stats go and on the flop it's priceless xd