Poker tools
Encyclopedia
Poker tools are a variety of software or web-based applications that allow the statistical analysis of poker
players, games or tournaments.
hand history
files from online cardroom
s and convert them into formats friendly to the eye and suitable for posting on online message boards. Hand converters are often used to show played hands to other players for analysis and discussion. Depending on the converter used, the output may include the pot size per betting round, blind level, seating order, and stack sizes.
Most online cardrooms store played hands on the computer of the player, allowing players to analyze and track their own performance or to discuss poker strategy
with other players. Statistics a player can track include showdown percentage, frequency of aggression, percentage of check/raise etc. Most major poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker
, PokerStars
and PartyPoker
provide players with hand history files, while a few such as the Playtech
network offer hand histories, but not in text file format.
In addition to using hand history files to analyze and improve an individual's game, they can also be used to gather statistical data about opponents, both those a player has played against and even opponents never faced. Whether the latter constitutes cheating depends on the Acceptable Use Policy
(AUP) of the cardroom. Sharing the raw hand history files is generally considered collusion and a violation of the AUP. Even though some sites don't offer readily available hand history files, you can usually request a transcript by e-mail
.
The first hand history converter, PokerStat, was introduced in 2001. Numerous software products and web-based tools now offer similar functionality.
in 1990.
the results of online poker cardroom tournaments and then offer rankings and return on investment statistics for players who have participated in these events.
Poker
Poker is a family of card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. Poker games differ in how the cards are dealt, how hands may be formed, whether the high or low hand wins the pot in a showdown , limits on bet sizes, and how many rounds of betting are allowed.In most modern poker...
players, games or tournaments.
Hand converters
Poker hand converters allow players to take text-based online pokerOnline poker
Online poker is the game of poker played over the Internet. It has been partly responsible for a dramatic increase in the number of poker players worldwide...
hand history
Hand history
A hand history is a record of the action in an online poker hand. These records are generated by poker sites, and used internally to track player behavior and provide a verifiable log to resolve player disputes...
files from online cardroom
Cardroom
A cardroom or card room is a gaming establishment that exclusively offers card games for play by the public. The term poker room is generally synonymous, since the gambling games played in such establishments are typically, and sometimes exclusively, variations of poker such as Texas hold 'em.Such...
s and convert them into formats friendly to the eye and suitable for posting on online message boards. Hand converters are often used to show played hands to other players for analysis and discussion. Depending on the converter used, the output may include the pot size per betting round, blind level, seating order, and stack sizes.
Most online cardrooms store played hands on the computer of the player, allowing players to analyze and track their own performance or to discuss poker strategy
Poker strategy
Poker is a popular card game that combines elements of chance and strategy. There are various styles of poker, all of which share an objective of presenting the least probable or highest-scoring hand. A poker hand is a configuration of five cards, either held entirely by a player or drawn partly...
with other players. Statistics a player can track include showdown percentage, frequency of aggression, percentage of check/raise etc. Most major poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker
Full Tilt Poker is an online poker card room that opened in June 2004 with the involvement of poker professionals Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Jennifer Harman and Chris Ferguson...
, PokerStars
PokerStars
PokerStars is the largest online poker cardroom in the world. PokerStars' satellite tournaments produced the 2003 World Series of Poker champion, Chris Moneymaker. 1983 champion Tom McEvoy, 2005 champion Joe Hachem, 2009 champion Joe Cada and 2010 champion Jonathan Duhamel and others also represent...
and PartyPoker
PartyGaming
bwin.Party Digital Entertainment Plc is an online gambling company, formed by the March 2011 merger of PartyGaming plc and bwin. The world's largest publicly traded online gambling firm, it is best known for its online poker room PartyPoker.com and its sports betting brand Bwin. It is...
provide players with hand history files, while a few such as the Playtech
Playtech
Playtech Ltd. is a gaming software development company founded in 1999. The company provides software for online casinos, online poker rooms, online bingo games, online sports betting, scratch games, mobile gaming, live dealer games and fixed-odds arcade games online.-Playtech gaming software and...
network offer hand histories, but not in text file format.
In addition to using hand history files to analyze and improve an individual's game, they can also be used to gather statistical data about opponents, both those a player has played against and even opponents never faced. Whether the latter constitutes cheating depends on the Acceptable Use Policy
Acceptable use policy
An acceptable use policy is a set of rules applied by the owner/manager of a network, website or large computer system that restrict the ways in which the network site or system may be used...
(AUP) of the cardroom. Sharing the raw hand history files is generally considered collusion and a violation of the AUP. Even though some sites don't offer readily available hand history files, you can usually request a transcript by e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
.
The first hand history converter, PokerStat, was introduced in 2001. Numerous software products and web-based tools now offer similar functionality.
Odds calculators
Numerous programs allow people to run "hot and cold" simulations where two to ten hands are run against each other to show the approximate winning percentage for each. The first such simulator, Poker Probe, was invented by Mike CaroMike Caro
Mike A. Caro is a professional poker player, pioneer poker theorist, author of poker books, and casino executive.-Author:...
in 1990.
Tournament databases
Several commercial websites data mineData mining
Data mining , a relatively young and interdisciplinary field of computer science is the process of discovering new patterns from large data sets involving methods at the intersection of artificial intelligence, machine learning, statistics and database systems...
the results of online poker cardroom tournaments and then offer rankings and return on investment statistics for players who have participated in these events.