Ian Simpson: Tracking Software Should Be Built into the Poker Client

Ever since the first piece of third-party software was allowed by the first online poker room, there has been a never-ending argument about whether it should be allowed or prohibited.  While some players feel that no poker software should be allowed and others feel everything should be allowed, most poker players wind up falling somewhere in the middle.
 
Professional poker player and writer Ian Simpson recently wrote about this topic in a blog post entitled "Poker Software Tools: Good or Bad for Poker" on CardPlayer.  Even though this author doesn't agree with all of Simpson's opinions in his blog, it was well thought out and a great read.
 
The British poker player believes that everyone should be on the same footing in terms of what tools are readily available to maintain integrity in the game.  This doesn't mean that Simpson necessarily believes that all poker software should be banned, especially in today's multi-tabling environment.  However, the gist of the article is that in a perfect world, this is what he would like to see.
 
Simpson hops into the meat and potatoes of his blog post talking about the inequities of a poker tracking database.  His first point on this subject is that the cost of these databases makes it such that only serious poker players have it.  Personally, I know plenty of recreational poker players who use poker tracking software. However, without seeing a study on the topic, I would tend to believe Simpson's assumption is more or less correct.
 
Simpson believes it would be a good idea for poker sites to embed poker tracking software directly in their client.  He also suggests if this can't be done, it should be barred completely, suggesting other sites already employ this via anonymous play and/or no hand history files.
 
This isn't all about Simpson's problems with poker tracking databases.  What Simpson really doesn't like about poker tracking databases is that they provide the ability to import hands from databases of friends or peers.  He doesn't like the idea that someone will be able to have history on an opponent they never played with.

I personally think this is a good line to draw, but it is also very difficult to enforce.  Simpson suggested that banning the software on every site would solve the problem, but it also might not be a great idea since it would potentially create a black market for poker tracking.
 
Simpson also, without question, hates seating scripts, which this authors also feels are a problem for both sites and recreational players.  He commends Unibet Poker for employing random seating at all of its tables to combat this.  Microgaming recently took a different stance on this topic by creating a new feature allowing players to change their screen names the sooner of every 30 days or every 1,000 real money hands.

Read the blog here.

More articles