The Indicator series has been around for years. Hold'em Indicator was my very first poker software back in 2006 or 2007 when I started online. Poker Indicator and Tournament Indicator are variations of the same tool. Carbon's recently introduced HUD is a free version of Hold'em Indicator locked down to work only on Carbon's family of sites.
The Indicator series has always had a reputation for working on tracker-hostile sites like Bodog/Bovada and the old Cake back when they were anti-tracker.
so what does this company have that PT4 cant add to make it work with their software. It just seems weird that this site can make their Huds to what others wont but if bovada gets me the check then i might chck it out
2 main reasons that I know of: one is technical, the other philosophical or business related.
Technically speaking, the Inidicator tools work primarily through OCR of the chat window. This is why they require that all chat details be enabled. It's also why they can be spotty and unreliable, but it's not terribly noticeable since they don't maintain a long-term results database like a proper tracker does, where errors would accumulate to the point of being noticeable.
Aside from the technology they use, Indicator takes a different philosophy towards the sites than PT and HM have. PT/HM have more or less tried to establish good relationships with the sites and work within their demands and T&C. When Cake asked HM not to track other players by name, HM complied. Not because they legally had to, but to maintain a relationship in the industry. When Bodog asked HM to cease working on their own hand grabber, which they had nearly completed, they complied for the same reasons. Even when the only other Bodog HH grabber left the market, and demand surged for HM to release theirs in response, they declined. So when a site demanded that those tools not be used, they generally complied. In contrast, the Indicator approach has never seemed to be one to comply with anyone -- they'll track anyone regardless of their position or terms.
I used to use Hold'em Indicator on Cake and Bodog years ago when the main trackers didn't work or stopped working, just to have some session stats if not historical stats. But when Cake reversed their tracker position, and Bodog became Bovada and I dropped that silly excuse for a
poker site, I've not had a need for it so never reinstalled it. They really do suck compared to a proper tracker/HUD like PT/HM.
BTW (aside from Carbon's free version) these tools cost just as much as PT & HM, so I certainly hope nobody is paying full price for them. I got mine free with a Cake signup way back when I first started (probably my first poker room signup), and then once I learned the affiliate game and what rakeback meant, I regretted it. Getting a one-time gift instead of a rakeback deal is a huge mistake, unless you never intend to play there after you've cleared the gift.