Wow i dont use poker tracker or any other program but, i knew they existed but i never knew how much people used them. But does the program detect a great player who always changes up his game and changes gears all the time in there play. I dont know man i guess if so much people use it than it has to be good. How much do one of these programs cost?
These programs are only as good as you know how to use them . . . and none of them are perfect, unfortunately, which is why I still have to use my own spreadsheet to track my monthly play in addition to using PT2/PT3. PT3 is an excellent program, I think, but it's not yet compatible with some of the sites I frequent, so I still use PT2 for some sites (i.e. Absolute Poker), and even PT2 isn't compatible with many popular sites.
The other thing is, even though a program like Poker Tracker will be an immense help in collecting, grouping, filtering, etc. stats, it does require a certain amount of time and work on the user's part to really get it to show you what you need, not to mention correctly analyze the data. Moreover, if you play a lot of tourneys - I'm about 50-50 personally - it requires even more work, because the program can only import the tourney HHs, but it usually won't know how many total players were in it, where you ended up, whether or not you cashed, and if so, how much your winnings were.
Costwise you're looking at anywhere from $20-$100, mostly for a one-time fee, but in some cases annually, and usually you can download a free trial version before you spend any money, which I would definitely recommend.
I have looked at and/or tried many of them (PT, PPA Bookkeeper, Poker Academy, Poker Office) and ended up settling on PT, mainly for the much-improved design of the new version, its relatively low cost, and the excellent support I've experienced from their website.