Do you think poker software like poker tracker has ruined online poker ?

[bigbadken]

I have been reading again about how it is essential nowadays, to have the latest poker tracking software. Even to the point that it was said , not having it, is being ignorant really ! I fully understand where they are coming from. Personally though, ive never had the tracking software and have no wish to get any. Now having said that, i do realise, ive probably done my game no good without it and thats why i only play the penny games now when i do have some time to play. My point and question is however, do you good people think, the software has indeed damaged online poker ? Personally i think it has, player numbers seem to be going down, poker site numbers are less than they were and i honestly think interest has gone in the game. My wife used to enjoy a game but now has no interest and i see a lot of forum players are no longer playing which i find very sad really. I think now though, that the game is not so simple as it was, you now need to have the tracking software, spend a lot of time learning how to use it and it is now about who can use it in the best way. I had a young relation of mine asking me about the game the other day and i had to be honest with him and tell him if he was thinking of playing he would need to buy the software, learn how to use it and realise what the other players were up to, needless to say, he soon lost the wish to get involved in the game. What are your ideas on the subject ?

[Bart(UK)]

Re: Do you think poker software like poker tracker has ruined online poker ? I think it has certainly sped up the growing profit/loss gap between regs and recreational players, although a lot of other factors involved in the general decline in traffic (lack of competition/choice of networks, regulation of various country markets, changes in tournament formats and for live events the rising costs of traveling/accomodation) to name just a few. Recs need to win sometimes to keep the ecosystem balanced, so it certainly isn't helping. I personally think HUD are only useful for cash game players where sufficient volume of hands can be accumulated on the regs. I really don't think you can use the software effectively in tournament play due to the many different ways a player will play the same range at different stages of a tournament or stack size and lack of sufficient volume to base decisions on. I've never been keen on their use, to the point of morally objecting to the allowance of them, but I know a lot of players do use them, afterall poker is a game of small edges. After trying them for a while I found any worthwhile size of hands history just sucks the life out of your RAM, so becomes counter-productive. Hopefully others will put a more positive spin on the topic, just depressed myself re-reading what I wrote :rollin My middle names are "level playing field for all", my parents must've had a weird sense of humour ;)