Poker Tracker 3 versus Hold'em Manager

Including updated analysis by PokerSoftware's very own Chris "Fox" Wallace, outlining the recent developments and comparing major aspects of Poker Tracker 3 and Hold'em Manager. It's an article that will leave you wondering which piece of software will suit your needs the best.

If you're a serious player you probably already know that having a good piece of stat tracking software is an absolute necessity. While there are a number of options to fill that need, PokerTracker 3 and Hold'em Manager are way ahead of the rest of the pack, and using anything other than one of these two programs really puts you at a disadvantage. But which one to choose?

The two products are remarkably similar, and neither one will be a bad choice for most players. They are so similar that a side by side comparison is the only way to compare the two. Let's get started with a comparison of the two companies and the people who run them. 

The Companies

PT3 – PokerTracker has been around for longer than anyone else in the business. They have money to spend on advertising, hiring programmers and adding new features. Sometimes large companies suffer from problems with customer service, but that doesn't seem to be a big problem with PokerTracker

HM – Hold'em Manager started as a one man operation, though that has not slowed anything down in the past and they now have a full team on the job. Previous software written by the same programmer has been very good stuff, and Hold'em Ranger and RTHUD, while no longer supported, are still excellent programs with very few bugs. Both are now free to the public.

Features

The two programs have very similar features, and to really choose one or the other based on features would require more nitpicking than I have space for in one article. Both provide a heads up display, graphing functions, a hand replayer, and reports that can be configured in more ways than most players will ever need. 

Graphics

Both programs are fairly minimalist in their interface, leaving as much space open as possible to view information rather than pretty graphics. HM primarily uses shades of gray, which can take a little getting used to while PT3 uses a color scheme that is close the Windows default colors that are so familiar to most players. The graphing function in PT3 also looks a little better, though both programs display graphs in a very clear and usable way. PT3 wins this category by a nose. 

Stability

While PT3 has some serious problems with stability early in the release of the program, those issues have been resolved for most users. Both programs appear quite stable, and in the last few months of constant use of both programs I have not had significant stability problems with either of them. The best thing to do is to try the free version of both programs to determine which one works best with your system, but for total stability HM wins because of a less buggy history.

Future Development

This edge would have gone to PokerTracker a few months ago (as it did in the original incarnation of this article, but with HM growing market share quickly things are changing. We expect these companies to keep pace with each other and drive the technology forward quickly, with no significant edge that we can predict. 

Pricing

PokerTracker will set you back $89.99, payable through Paypal, via credit card, or through online payment processor Moneybookers and the license is good for two computers. Hold'em Manager is slightly more affordable at $80 for the Professional Edition, and $55 for the small stakes edition which can be upgraded later for $25. HM can be purchased via Paypal, credit card, and Neteller, with other options available via email. For small stakes players, the $30 savings of the cheaper version of Hold'em Manager, versus purchasing a full version of PokerTracker, may make their choice a simple one. Hold'em Manager wins this category with lower and more flexible pricing. 

Support

Hold'em Manager's web site currently list vides and articles as "coming soon", but there is a nice FAQ section and support requests in the forums seem to be handled very quickly. The support system should take care of all your problems with HM, just as the support system does with PokerTracker. PokerTracker offers a support ticket set up, but it's nice to have a little more personal contact with the designers in some situations, and HM's forums offer that. 

Add-ons

Currently neither programs is seeing a lot of interest from programmers writing their own applications to work in conjunction with the program. With the old PokerTracker 2 we saw lots of little add-ons that made the program much more useful, but the current programs are so complete on their own that most of the useful add-ons have already been included. This category went to PT3 a few months ago, but as the market share for Holdem Manager increases, so will the number of people writing add-on programs for it. 

Conclusion

I would love to have a clear winner here, but the two programs both hold up to scrutiny very well. For most people one program or the other will run better on their system or have a look they like more than the other, so go download both free versions and try them out. After working with them for a few days your choice may be easy. If not, try flipping a coin, the race is really that close. The only advantage that we have found that is significant right now is that a number of users who play 12 tables or more who report that HM holds up better dealing with the massive amounts of data.