09.06.2022

In 2014, Unibet Poker banned the use of poker trackers. The small European room was the first and set the trend. Next, HUD and stats fell under the ban or restrictions in many places: Microgaming Network, partypoker, iPoker Network. There were rumors of intentions to restrict trackers even on PokerStars. The success of GGPoker, which surpassed PS in terms of the number of players, hit the poker statistics even harder.

Poker rooms have their own arguments in favor of the prohibition of statistics and software for its collection. But why do more and more players agree to play in rooms without stats? Are stats and HUD overrated? Is it really more profitable to play in rooms without trackers?

What are the advantages of poker with stats?

Behind the abstract notion of "statistics" in poker is a source of a huge amount of useful data. "Does the player 3-bet with QQ on MP", "Is the opponent willing to check the flop without a strong hand", "Can we squeeze the opponent out of the pot with the second barrel" - these and thousands of other questions are answered by statistics. Poker is a game with incomplete information, where HUDs and popups are ready to give clues for almost any situation. If you use them skillfully. Two key arguments in favor of statistics are exploitation and hand analysis.

Exploitation. The more information we have on our opponents and the better we use it, the more money we win. For example, if we know that an opponent gives up on a continuation bet 33% of the time or more, our bet of half the pot will always make a profit. In practice many opponents give up much more often than 33% of the time. Another classic situation is opponents which fold to 3-bet 66% or more of the time. Mathematically, it is advantageous against them to 3-bet the size of 9 BB any 2 cards. There are many such examples in poker and they are all perfectly visible when using statistics.

The option to analyze the entire session in one window is very convenient

Having a poker tracker will not automatically turn you into a winner. Information only benefits those who know how to use it. A player must understand the essence of each stat, decipher its meaning, understand the idea of automatic profit, and see the appropriate situations. All of these skills will not appear by themselves - each must be trained and improved. Without work on themselves, HUD and popups will remain just a huge amount of data. Lazy players from it sometimes do more harm than good.

Hand analysis. Many professional players were saddened by partypoker's withdrawal of tracker support, not by the loss of HUD, but by the loss of access to hand history. Without importing your hands into the database, it is impossible to analyze them properly. Exploiting your opponent's flaws is good, but improving your strategy is even better. It is easiest to find the opponents' mistakes, which you previously made yourself. A clear example is working with ranges. If we know what's in our 5% 3-bet range, it's easier to figure out other people's 5% ranges. They won't match completely, but they will always be a point of reference for a quick calculation.

Filters are not always easy to understand, but the benefits of working in them are enormous

Poker trackers are a great tool for analyzing hands. Thanks to a huge number of filters, the hand can be studied from all angles. Alternatively, it is possible to sort out the most difficult situations and work through them purposefully. Working in the hand player will also be very useful. It recreates the situation at the training table, which helps to better remember all aspects of the hand. Recording notes is an additional benefit. Recording your opponent's game patterns speeds up your decisions at the table.

Why do players still play in rooms without statistics?

If statistics are so important, why would anyone play at GGPoker, partypoker or Unibet? The obvious answer is that it is very profitable! GGPoker is willing to give its players back up to 60%, partypoker gives Diamond Club Elite members the same 60% rakeback. Unibet has been skirting the loyalty program issue for a long time, but in 2021 introduced a new system. According to it, players can expect a rakeback up to 51%. However, the key advantage of rooms without statistics is not in the rakeback.

The first place in the number of players is a logical result of GG work

The main argument in favor of playing without HUD and trackers is a weak pool. In rooms, where statistics are banned, the ratio of professional to recreational players is more favorable than on the same PokerStars or 888Poker. The GGPoker is aimed at the audience of amateurs as much as possible. The colorful lobby, tables with social features, emoji - all this is adored by the chips and disliked by the regulars. The good thing about Asian mobile apps is that they are used by players from all over the world. They ignore territorial restrictions, so players from the US, China, Italy or Australia can sit at the tables without any problem.

Recently GGPoker finally removed the chat

Because of the lack of poker trackers, there are fewer professional players in such rooms. Especially there are less weak-plus opponents, whose main skill is to grind 100500 tables at the expense of statistics. Without their Holdem Manager 3, PokerTracker 4 or Hand2Note they can't compete. That makes the really good players win more.

In which rooms the stats are banned, but it works with converters?

In some rooms, where statistics is prohibited, it is still possible to play with HUD and tracker. All thanks to special programs - poker converters. They convert the history of hands in a format that trackers perceive and import. Some converters go further: they capture hands as they are playing and import them into statistics software. This allows you to play with statistics in places where this option is not provided or blocked. Here's what the list of rooms and converters for them looks like:

We offer each converter for free for 5 days. It has all the same features as the license. Follow the new converters and features of existing ones on the KingsHands channel. Sign up to not miss out on the benefits.