Poker-Edge No Longer Provides PokerStars Support

If you haven't heard, Poker-Edge, the all-in-one online poker tool that includes a Heads-Up Display, buddy list, odds calculator, and a massive player hand history database, is no longer providing support for PokerStars. The decision comes as a reaction to the recent cease and desist order that PokerStars sent to a competing site requesting that all third-party hand histories cease to be used for datamining purposes.

Poker-Edge is currently in its fifth version (launched in February 2010) and is dubbed "poker reborn" on the official website. The real-time datamining service remains available for other supported sites. The software has a database that incorporates many online poker hand histories from the most popular sites, but with the recent issues with PokerStars, Poker-Edge has decided to stop providing hand history data obtained from PokerStars game play.

Those who continue to use Poker-Edge 5 will have to do so on other poker sites. According to many in the online poker community, including Poker-Edge's developers, making use of third-party hand history information in real-time can give an enormous advantage to those who purchase the service.

Having the most complete, up-to-date information on as many opponents as possible is a key element for maintaining a high profit rate and hourly win percentage.

With Poker-Edge, your opponents' stats are updated in real-time so you can have an extremely useful HUD complete with statistics on pre-flop, flop, turn, river, cash game, and tournament action.

It's unclear whether more online poker rooms will follow suit and demand that sites such as Poker-Edge cease using third-party hand history information. In the meantime, the service is still a valuable option for online poker players worldwide who are competing on sites other than PokerStars. The HUD within Poker-Edge is easy to interpret and can go a long way in each individual poker decision.

As far as the squabble between PokerStars and sites that use third-party hand history information, some are speculating that it will require an actual court ruling to discourage some companies, while others in the online poker community think that the vast majority of high-profile third-party sites will make similar decisions as Poker-Edge and simply decide not to make hand histories available.

Poker-Edge has a total of three subscription plans. The Micro subscription is for players who compete in No Limit cash games up to a big blind of $0.10 and Fixed Limit cash games of up to $0.50/$1 stakes. The 12-month prepaid price is $4.95 per month, $7.95 per month for three months, or $9.95 for a single month.

The next subscription plan is known as Silver and is for No Limit cash games up to $0.50 big blind and Fixed Limit cash games up to $3/$6. Tournaments are also included in this plan, which can be purchased for $14.95 per month if you commit for 12 months. A three-month commitment will run $19.95, while a one-month membership is $27.95.

Finally, there is the Gold subscription, which grants unlimited access to all cash games and tournaments. This plan is $29.95 per month for 12 months or $36.95 for three months. A single month's Gold subscription will run you $44.95.

PokerSoftware will keep you up to date on any future changes that Poker-Edge makes to its supported sites. For now, the only site that has been removed from the service is PokerStars. To find out more about the Poker-Edge software, visit Poker-Edge.com.