Poker News

It took all of two weeks for the major tracking and analysis programs to release patches accommodating Full Tilt’s Rush Poker. Recently, PokerTracker released a real-time updating Heads-Up Display (HUD) for the poker variation.

PokerTracker and Holdem Manager are the market leaders in poker tracking software. Each strives to out-innovate the other and, with the release of Rush Poker on Full Tilt, both scrambled to issue patches. Holdem Manager’s version came out several days prior to PokerTracker’s. Instead of a customary HUD, stats like voluntarily put money into the pot (VPIP), aggression factor (AF), and pre-flop raise (PFR) percentage appeared in the notes section on Full Tilt. While this was a serviceable workaround, Holdem Manager boasted no full-scale HUD.

Enter PokerTracker. Text found on the program’s website explains the delay in issuing an update for Rush Poker: “We weren’t satisfied in giving you guys something silly like stats in exported notes or to make you look up your opponents manually in a list of players. We wanted only the best. We wanted to give you exactly what you have on every other table you play on.” In essence, PokerTracker bills its patch as a real-time updating HUD while players whisk around the ever-changing felts of Rush Poker logging 200 to 300 hands per hour.

PokerTracker’s Rush Poker HUD has a few drawbacks, however. First, it does not display session stats or hero stats. Instead, the patch focuses on providing you with up-to-the-minute stats on your opponents. Second, players are unable to mark hands for further review via the HUD. In addition, if you want to add player notes, you’ll need to do so before your table changes, which occurs every time your action in a hand ends. Full Tilt Poker added a special “Quick Fold” feature to expedite game play even further. Finally, your mucked hands do not appear via PokerTracker when playing Rush Poker on the world’s second largest online poker site.

PokerTracker developers have not yet test-driven the software on the variety of mods that are available for the site, so players using anything other than the layouts and themes provided by Full Tilt Poker may experience issues with the HUD. In addition, Rush Poker support is only available for the Windows version of PokerTracker. Those using the tracking program on a Mac will remain in the dark for now.

In the same release of PokerTracker, developers touted that every online poker site except Bodog now has Omaha support. Site representatives noted, “Unfortunately, we did not receive a large number of Omaha hand histories to test with, so there will most likely be occasional hands that won’t import. If you encounter one that errors out or doesn’t import properly, please send it to our support team so we can get it fixed.” The latest release, dubbed Beta 30.2, adds Omaha support for the CEREUS Network, Microgaming Network, Ongame Network, Pacific Poker, Everest Poker, Boss Media Network, Cake Poker Network, and Entraction Network.

In addition, PokerTracker now supports the auto-import of hands and an HUD on the CEREUS Network, which includes UB.com and Absolute Poker. The site adds, “We’ve also improved the stat interaction on the HUD by allowing CTRL+click and drag to move the stats on the table.”

The popular poker software review site PokerSoftware.com called PokerTracker “the most powerful tool an online poker player can use to enhance their career.” A 60-day free trial of the program is available. When it comes time to purchase, customers can choose between a $44.99 Small-Stakes version and an $89.99 Full version. Graphs and hundreds of stats make PokerTracker one of the poker software industry’s staple programs.

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