What Poker Software Do You Use?

Ask a pro how to play small pocket pairs in middle position and you’ll get a speech about how much you’re supposed to open the pot for and whether you should be calling, folding, or raising.  Ask them to tell you a bad beat story and most of the time they’ll oblige.  But ask a poker pro what poker software they’re using on their opponents and you’ll likely get a hesitant response.  You’ll very likely find that a player that doesn’t want to give up too much information.

While some of our interviewees got their start using different pieces of poker software through recommendations from their friends and acquaintances, most learned about them through public forums like TwoPlusTwo, PocketFives, and DeucesCracked.  After hearing about how it’s working for someone else, it became easy to give it a whirl.  Said one online pro, “They all have free trials, so it was kind of a no-brainer to try them out and it was easy to see their value.”

A little something that surprised us was the number of players who had begun their online poker careers by using PokerTracker and then made the conversion to Holdem Manager.  Said one of the online pros we talked to, “I started out with PokerTracker 3, but after I moved up in stakes and started making some money, I decided to invest more in software to make sure I was using the best tools available.  Holdem Manager turned out to be easier to use and more stable than PokerTracker 3, so that’s what I turned to.”

The most important component for each of these players was the configuration of each program to suit their needs.  And because most of the programs out there are customizable, everyone had a different answer on how they use it.  Said another online pro, “As I got better, I started taking out the useless stuff and my Heads-Up Display is now left with VPIP/PFR/Hands.  That’s it.  Positional 3bet stats and post-flop stuff are tucked away in a popup.  It makes playing so much easier.”

Another very popular program to use for players who are multi-tabling is Table Ninja.  “That software just makes my day,” another online pro explained.  “I play across multiple sites, but I kind of prefer playing on PokerStars and Full Tilt because of the availability of games and Table Ninja PokerStars.  I don’t have to click any of the actual buttons.  I just hover my mouse over a table and click whichever mouse button is appropriate.”

One of the final pieces of software that was a “must use” across the board was PokerStove.  Every one of the players I approached said that they referred back to PokerStove for basic equity calculations.  “I know that there are other items out there that can do this, but I find that PokerStove is just the one that makes the most sense,” commented one of the pros.  “I rely on PokerStove a great deal to simply make my decision for my on those borderline calls, and I just live with the result.”  PokerStove is a popular online poker odds calculator.

What poker software do you use?  Click over to Software Discussion and let us know!  If you’re just getting started, read our Beginner’s Guide to Poker Software.

The above comments reflect the opinions of the author and interviewees and not those of PokerSoftware.com.