In fact, nearly every single online professional poker player I know also uses the PokerTracker HUD when they play online, and also to improve their game away from the tables.
But I still get asked all the time about PokerTracker vs Hold'em Manager, PokerTracker vs DriveHud, PokerTracker vs Poker Copilot, PokerTracker vs Hand2Note, PokerTracker vs Jivaro and so on.
Why do the large majority of online poker pros still choose PokerTracker over all of these other poker HUDs? There are in fact many clear reasons why.
So in this article I am going to explain why PokerTracker 4 is still the clearly undisputed leader for online poker HUDs these days and the #1 choice of online poker pros.
And even more importantly, I am going to explain how the PokerTracker HUD can help you win more at the online poker tables as well.
So let's jump right into it!
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PokerTracker vs Holdem Manager, DriveHUD, Poker Copilot, Hand2Note, Jivaro - Why is it the Choice of Pros?
Why is it that the majority of online poker pros, and even serious amateurs out there, prefer PokerTracker over other HUDs like Holdem Manager, DriveHUD, Poker Copilot, Jivaro, Hand2Note and so on?
Well, there are a few reasons why. First off, there are more HUD stats in PokerTracker that you can possibly ever imagine.
The biggest reason why people choose to use PokerTracker, Holdem Manager or any of these online poker software tools is for the HUD.
A HUD by the way stands for "heads up display" and it basically gives you information on your opponents (displayed directly on your screen), based on hands that you have already played against them.
An example of me using the PokerTracker HUD below (player names shaded out to protect their privacy):
So as you can see above, HUD stats can be placed right on your poker table right beside your opponents, while you play online poker.
And these HUD stats provide you with information on:
- What percentage of hands do they play preflop?
- How often do they raise preflop?
- If you make a bet on the flop, what percentage of the time will they fold?
- If you bet again on the turn, what percentage of the time will they fold?
In the fast paced world of multi-tabling online poker this is absolutely crucial information to have, because it is often impossible to keep track of every single player and develop reads on all of them.
The HUD helps do that for you, by giving you actual data on every facet of their strategy. And this will ultimately help you make much better poker decisions against them.
If you play a fast fold version of poker like Zoom, this is even more important, because you might only see a certain opponent once every 20 hands.
There is no way that you are going to remember your reads on him/her!
So this is why nearly all online poker pros, and most serious amateurs, make use of a poker HUD, while playing online poker.
And the PokerTracker HUD is the overwhelming choice of online poker pros. It is the poker HUD that I personally have relied on as a 10+ year online poker pro as well.
PokerTracker Has More HUD Stats Than Other HUDS
Now, the thing that has always made PokerTracker stand out from the rest, is that there are simply more HUD stats than you can possibly ever need to have.
You can get information on your opponents down to the very finest details such as:
- How often do they check raise the river?
- What percentage of the time do they 3bet an early position raise from the small blind preflop?
- How often do they float the flop in position and then bet the turn when checked to?
Basically the PokerTracker HUD allows you to get detailed information on literally any facet of the game and put it right on your screen beside your opponents.
And if you want to dive even deeper, you can run filters to see how your opponents play individual hands like Ace King for example (more on that in a bit).
Furthermore, if the HUD stat that you want isn't available on the HUD itself then PokerTracker also includes an incredibly detailed popup display, as shown below:
You can also bring up this popup display directly on your poker table as you play, by simply clicking on the HUD box beside a specific player.
And as you can see, the popup display tells you any other information about your opponents that you could possibly ever want to know.
For example:
- How do they play versus a 3bet from the blinds when they open from middle position?
- What is their went to showdown percentage from the blinds as the preflop caller versus a button preflop raise?
- How often do they check/raise the turn out of position in a 3bet pot?
Basically, every piece of information that you could ever possibly want to know about your opponents is available at your fingertips while you play.
And this in a nutshell is the #1 reason why most poker pros rely on the PokerTracker HUD day in and day out at the poker tables to help them make better decisions and ultimately win more money.
PokerTracker simply gives you more real time data on your opponents than any other HUD out there, and in the fast paced world of online poker, knowledge is power.
But in reality, the HUD itself is actually only the tip of the iceberg for how PokerTracker can help improve your poker game, and therefore, your results.
So in the next section, let's dive into how it helps you find your leaks at the poker table, and fix them.
Finding Your Leaks and Fixing Them - PokerTracker vs DriveHUD, Holdem Manager, Poker Copilot, Hand2Note, Jivaro
The next area where PokerTracker really leads the pack for me is in the ability to study your own game (and your opponents) away from the table, find your leaks, and ultimately fix them.
This is the #1 reason why I have been able to consistently stay ahead of the competition when playing online poker and continue to win year in and year out.
And this is something that you are simply unable to do (to this extent) in Holdem Manager, DriveHUD, Poker Copilot, Jivaro, Hand2Note or others.
PokerTracker allows you to study your game and find your leaks through its extensive cash and tournament filter system.
This basically allows you to bring up any hands from any situation that you have previously played, and study them and learn from them.
You do this by bring up the Cash Filters or Tournament Filters box (as shown above), and filter for the exact situation you are having trouble with
For example:
Playing pocket jacks from the blinds versus a short-stack.
It doesn't matter how specific the situation is, PokerTracker allows you to filter for it and study those situations.
It also provides you with detailed stats on your profit/loss in these situations, which gives you a clear indication of whether of not this is a problem area for you or not.
Study Your Opponents in PokerTracker (Copy Their Winning Strategies)
Alright, this next one is a bit controversial, but it is also something that I have been doing for years in PokerTracker.
That is, learning directly from my best opponents by studying their game directly in PokerTracker (you can do this on the My Reports tab), and just straight up copying their strategies in some cases.
Because why not?
This is something that I have discussed many times on this blog before. And nobody else seems to talk about it, which is totally crazy to me!
One of the most vital keys to my success in poker over the years is studying the biggest winners in the games that I play in.
Because, after all, who better is there to learn from than the players who are actually crushing the games that you yourself play in right now?!
And luckily PokerTracker allows you to do this by searching for them by name and then reviewing how they play their hands in every situation possible.
I just load their hands directly into the replayer window as you see below and study how they play:
This has been how I have consistently stayed on top of the games over the years, by incorporating what the biggest winners are doing right into my own game.
For example:
Maybe I am having trouble playing Ace King from the blinds versus a preflop raise.
So I will go into PokerTracker and lookup Player X (who I know is a big winner), and find out how he plays his Ace King versus a preflop raise from the blinds.
Then I will pull up a bunch of my own hands where I have Ace King in the blinds versus a raise preflop, and compare it to how they play it.
See how this works and how easy it is?
Compare your own strategies to the biggest winners in your games. Find out what they are doing better than you.
And learn from it!
Heck, even just straight up copy what they do. There is no shame in it, believe me.
Or, as I often also do, find their weaknesses and create the strategies to crush them next time I play against them.
PokerTracker allows you to do all this and more. You can get started with the 30 free trial right here.
PokerTracker is the Easiest Poker HUD to Setup and Start Using in Just a Few Minutes
Another huge reason why most poker pros and serious amateurs choose PokerTracker above all the others like Holdem Manager, Hand2Note, Jivaro, DriveHUD, Poker Copilot and so on, is the ease of use.
Unlike most other Poker HUDs out there, PokerTracker can be setup on most of the major poker sites in a matter of minutes.
And there is no complicated software of computer "nerd talk" that you need to understand.
PokerTracker has instead focused on creating a simple and easy to use product that anybody can quickly figure out how to use.
It is a very simple process to get the PokerTracker HUD up and running on your poker tables, in quite literally, a matter of minutes.
In fact, to prove this, I even made a video on "How to Install PokerTracker in 5 Minutes or Less:"
You can download the 30 day free trial of PokerTracker right here.
PokerTracker Works on a Mac, Most Other Poker HUDs Can't Run on a Mac
Another important reason why PokerTracker is the HUD of choice these days for most people, pros and amateurs alike, is that the program can run on both Windows and Mac computers or laptops.
And this is a big deal for me personally since I switched over to a Mac several years ago. So I needed to make sure that my poker HUD was fully compatible with iOS.
Here I am reviewing some hands on my Mac recently with PokerTracker, while sitting by the ocean (Although, I must admit it's a little bit hard to see because of the sun!)
PokerTracker is one of the few poker HUDs out there that is fully compatible for both Windows and Mac machines.
So it doesn't matter what kind of computer or laptop you use, PokerTracker will run smoothly on your machine.
You can download the free trial for PokerTracker (Windows or Mac) right here.
PokerTracker Offers the Best Customer Support and Software Patching
The final reason why most poker pros prefer PokerTracker over other HUDs like Hand2Note, Holdem Manager, DriveHUD, Jivaro, Poker Copilot and so on these days is superior customer and tech support, and software patching.
One of the biggest issues when running a piece of computer software (which is what a poker HUD is), is tech issues.
Something just won't work right, no matter what you try to do.
PokerTracker has the best customer support that I have ever seen for a poker HUD to walk you through any tech problems that you may have.
They also, have the best step by step tutorials on their website and the best dedicated online forum for a poker HUD as well.
So, unlike other poker HUDs out there, you don't need to worry about being a "computer genius" in order to use PokerTracker.
The other very important reason why most poker pros continue to use PokerTracker is superior software patching.
Online poker sites are known to make changes to their software frequently and even their rules and regulations regarding third party software.
PokerTracker is always quick to patch you up to the latest version in order to keep your HUD smoothly running on which ever poker site you play on.
PokerTracker is the Proven Best Poker HUD for Pros and Serious Amateurs
PokerTracker has been the industry leader for poker HUDs and the #1 choice of pros and serious amateurs for as long as I can remember.
And it is the only poker HUD that I have chosen to rely on consistently throughout my 10+ years as an online poker pro.
Unlike other poker HUDs out there like DriveHUD, Hand2Note, Jivaro etc. which are all new to the scene, PokerTracker has literally been around forever.
In fact, as far as I know, it was the original poker HUD. I have personally been using PokerTracker 4 for nearly a decade now as a pro.
In fact, it is a large part of the reason how I was able to create results like this (some of the highest winnings in small stakes online poker history):
There is no other poker HUD that I feel offers me the best real time data while I play and the ability to study my game (and my opponents) down the finest detail away from the tables.
I have spent countless hours finding my leaks and fixing them away from the tables in PokerTracker over the years.
And anytime I am playing online poker, the PokerTracker HUD is the one that I rely on to help me make better, more informed poker decisions, and ultimately profit more.
What Poker Sites Can You Use a Poker HUD On?
Before you start using a poker HUD, it is important to make sure that you are allowed to use one at the poker site you play on, and that that poker site is supported by the HUD as well.
Once again PokerTracker leads the way in this category these days with custom options and the ability to use the HUD on more poker sites.
You can actually setup your poker HUD within PokerTracker itself at popular sites like PokerStars, 888 and so on.
However, even if you do currently play at a poker site that does not allow HUDs, the ability to study your game and fix your leaks (as I discussed above), still makes using PokerTracker worth it, if you take this game seriously.
You can download the free trial version and check it out for yourself, right here.
My Custom PokerTracker HUD (Free Download)
People often ask me what HUD stats I personally use on my PokerTracker HUD as 10+ year small stakes poker online pro.
So I have decided to give away my personal custom PokerTracker HUD profiles for free, for readers of this poker blog.
I created two different custom PokerTracker HUDs that I use for low stakes cash games.
It includes all the HUD stats that I personally use myself as a decade long pro. You can start using these exact stats for yourself.
Please Note: I am pretty sure you need to be using the full paid version of PokerTracker in order to use my free custom HUDs below.
You can download the Lite version of my custom Pokertracker 4 HUD, right here.
(recommended for NL2, NL4 and NL5).
You can download the Full version of my custom Pokertracker 4 HUD, right here.
(recommended for NL10 and higher).
They are both hosted on Google Drive and they are ".pt4hud" files (i.e. they will only work with PokerTracker).
Once you have downloaded my free custom PokerTracker HUD above:
Inside PokerTracker 4 just go HUD > Edit HUD Profiles > Options > Import Profile.
And that's it!
Next time you load up your poker tables, you can start using the actual custom PokerTracker HUD that I personally rely on as a 10+ year small stakes online poker pro.
Final Thoughts
So why is it that most online poker pros still continue to choose PokerTracker hands down over new rivals like Hand2Note, DriveHUD, Jivaro, Holdem Manager, Poker Copilot and others?
Well, it's pretty easy actually.
The PokerTracker HUD is still the best poker HUD available today. It has the most stats and you can literally get it setup and running on your poker table in a matter of minutes.
PokerTracker also has the best (and easiest to use) database analysis tools which allows you to deeply study your own game, find your leaks and fix them.
It also allows you to study the best poker players in your own games, find out what they might be doing better than you, and incorporate it into your own game.
Or, to find their weaknesses and crush them the next time you play against them!
Lastly, unlike most other poker HUDs out there, PokerTracker works natively on both Windows and Mac computers and laptops.
And they have the best customer and tech support out there if you encounter any problems running the program on your poker tables.
As a 10+ year poker pro, PokerTracker is the poker HUD and tracking software that I have personally used for nearly a decade now.
The HUD alone has no doubt saved me thousands of dollars at this point. And the ability to study my own game, and fix my leaks, has also made me countless more profit at the poker tables.
If you take online poker seriously, you owe it to yourself to at least give a good HUD like PokerTracker a try.
You can try out the 30 day free trial of PokerTracker right here.
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Please note: The links in this article are affiliate links. This means that at no cost to you, I may earn a small commission if you choose to purchase the full version of PokerTracker.
