Fox Interviews Poker-Edge

One of the most controversial programs in poker software is Poker Edge. It’s essentially a pooled database of player statistics that can be extremely powerful when used correctly, but the program is also banned by several major sites like Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. Nevertheless, our very own Chris “Fox” Wallace spoke to its founder, Jason Wang, to learn all about its development, capabilities, and future.

PokerSoftware: Thanks for allowing us a little look inside of your operation. How's business?

Wang: Thanks for giving us this opportunity. Business has been better than ever. This is largely due to the addition of our table selection tools, buddy list, and expansion into new poker networks. We also have a new version in the works that will really blow you out of the water.

PokerSoftware: There's been some controversy on message boards about your product and the fact that it is banned on some poker rooms. Can you comment on that?

Wang:  Poker-Edge supports hundreds of poker sites, yet only a couple of them have expressed their dissatisfaction with it by claiming that it provides an unfair advantage. We feel this is ludicrous considering that all of our data is comprised of publicly available information which can be gathered by anyone who opens a poker table and observes the action. We have merely streamlined and organized this data collection process on a large scale.

Online Poker is still a relatively new form of entertainment and competition, but we truly believe that the natural evolution of the sport is to take advantage of software and technology in order to scout your opponents and capitalize on information. If you look at other forms of competition, you will see that opponent scouting and player research is essential to every serious player’s success. Professional sports teams spend a fortune collecting film and analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of their upcoming opponents. Chess players spend hours reviewing past annotated games of their opponents in preparation for their next match.

In fact, poker players have been doing this ever since the beginning of the game by sharing observations and tips about the ins and outs of other poker opponents’ playing styles. But not until today’s digital age has it been possible to do what Poker-Edge does and streamline this process to make player profiling into a science. Our slogan from day one has always been “Information is Power!”

PokerSoftware: You recently released Lobby-Edge, the table selection tool. Tell us about it.

Wang: Lobby-Edge is the ultimate table selection tool! It combines our central database of player statistics with real-time information about who is sitting at every table. This allows us to scan all available tables quickly and show you which tables are currently the “best” based on several different criteria. Choosing a good table to play at has statistically shown to create a drastic improvement in expected win rate for that session. Lobby-Edge also comes with a Buddy List so you can always know when your “favorite” players are online and which tables they are sitting at.

PokerSoftware: You may have access to the largest hand history database in the world. Are you able to sort and filter that to find player tendencies? You could tell us what percentage of players win or lose, where to make the most money, and how to do it. With a little sorting, you might even be able to tell us if we should check-raise with an overpair from the small blind in an $8/$16 game. The possibilities are endless.

Wang: Yes, we are able to do lots of cool internal analysis like the ones you mentioned. Some of the reports we have been playing with lately almost seem too powerful to make publicly available. But to answer your question, we do plan to make some of these custom reports available to our customers as high-end research tools.

PokerSoftware: What do see for the future of software programs like yours?

Wang: We have big plans for the next major release. We’ve completely redesigned a lot of things to remove limitations and have dumped lots of cash into superior hardware and technology. The future of Poker-Edge will give you data on almost every single hand that an opponent has played and it will be very smart about how it presents this data to you.

PokerSoftware: Are any of the sites cooperating with you to make sure that your program works on their site or have any of them specifically said that it is allowed?

Wang: While the vast majority of sites take a neutral stance on our software, we tend to get a handful of requests each month from poker sites asking us to add support for their brand. From a technology standpoint, it is not necessary for the site to work directly with us in order for our software to be compatible.

PokerSoftware: What do you see as the future of Poker-Edge and for poker software in general? What's the next step?

Wang: Software programs are becoming more advanced in general. I see more functionality being pushed into the Heads-Up Display. People want lots of information presented to them conveniently on the screen in a very small space. With faster servers as well as client computers, we can crunch more data faster and present them in some very friendly and innovative ways.  

PokerSoftware: Some people worry that everyone will eventually have software that helps them play nearly perfect poker. They argue that when that happens, the fish won't enjoy it and the pros won't make any money. Will software eventually ruin the game?

Wang: That’s a very good question that I’ve thought a lot about! The important thing to understand is that software is merely an assistance tool. The challenge is to understand what data means and how to use it during the game. Software adds another dimension to the game and players will have to incorporate and strategize around this new element. It’s kind of like when they added the three point line in basketball. At first, it gave a big advantage to long-range shooters, but today it’s just another part of the game that teams utilize as part of their game strategy.

PokerSoftware: What is your opinion on the gray area in software programs? Where would you draw the line between being competitive and cheating?

Wang: My opinion is that anything that is built around publicly available information is not cheating. Anyone can open a poker table and observe the actions. That is the essence of a hand history. To me, cheating is collusion (working together in order to corner an opponent), sharing hole card information, and illegally obtaining hole card information.

Check out our full review of Poker-Edge right here on PokerSoftware.com. Thank you to Jason Wang for taking the time to speak with us.

More articles