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Poker Edge Review:

My special thanks to JP for updating this review. Poker Edge requires a monthly subscription to it's service.

Poker-Edge Review:

WOW is all I can say about this poker software.  First off, this is NOT a cure all program that will tell you what to play, how to play, what move to make, etc…  It is not an odds calculator and cannot tell you what decision to make.  It IS the most intense and in depth database of statistical data for poker players online I have ever seen.  Millions of hand histories from 10’s of 1,000’s of users are stored for your analysis.  Once you start using it and begin collecting your own data from every hand you play automatically, you will be able to analyze your own game in new ways you never thought of and find leaks you never even knew existed.

I must say that at first I was quite disappointed in the software.  I thought it would give me game play recommendations based on information at the table and compared to information in its databases.  Instead all I got was a TON of data.  “What the heck was I going to do with all that information?”  I thought to myself.  They really need to increase the trial period a couple days as the program is so in depth it will take a day of reading and practice to get any real benefit from it.  But the more I used it the more I could see it’s benefits.  I first began working on my own game looking at the data and analyzing myself and how it applied.  Knowing what I do and how I play I was then able to determine how that information might apply to opponents.

Poker Edge was originally developed years ago for Cash Hold’em.  However, a couple years ago it was vastly enhanced and works on any Hold’em games including real money Tournaments & SNG’s with the same in depth statistical coverage.

First off the download and install was simple and straight forward.  There are a few things you have to know about settings for Vista Users but those are detailed in their forum.  Their help and support is quite prompt so any questions e-mailed to them are often handled within a couple hours if you can’t find the answer on their site.  Your computer operating software should be updated and running with the latest patches and updates anyway.  Also, system settings must be set to English as that is how the program is written.  Most systems for online poker players are set that way anyway.

Ok let’s take a look at the idea behind the software and how it functions.  After you install your software shutdown and reboot your system.  Start Poker-Edge (PE), then launch your poker site from the drop down menu of all the sites poker edge supports.  After your site loads you log into your poker site.  You make your game selection as normal and sit down and play as usual.  Poker edge runs on autopilot collecting all the hand data as the game unfolds and every few minutes sends this information to a central database on PE servers.  The information is added into all the existing data in the data base and sent back to your system.  Every user that ever played a game with PE running that data was collected and sent to a shared database and you have all of that data at your fingertips. 

Profile your opponents the legal way - watch these videos:

It is not uncommon to sit at a table and have a nice statistical history of most of the players at the table even if you haven’t played them before.  It is no different than if you sat and watched a game and made notes and collected stats or used a hand history tracker track the game you are in it also tracks the other players.  The variance is that the history of others is all there and shared and it’s not just your own history you have to rely on.  So this is how the program works.

Obviously it is the more popular sites and new sites are added as the software is further developed to support each site.  Part of LE is a free module called Lobby Edge Buddy List.  You can enter player names and receive alerts when they are online and WHERE they are online at WHAT TABLE and go to them to find them and play them again.  GREAT for tracking “fish” too.

The way Poker-Edge is currently written there are two basic modules that run.  The “lookup window” and the “main window”.  I say “currently” because the developers have told me when they come out with the new version it will be incorporated into one main access window and the lookup window will be eliminated.

The Main Window is where you set your game parameters and filters.  Is it a cash game or tournament, is it No Limit or Limit, is it a full table or short table (6 and less players).  On the main you have search feature to lookup any player in it’s data base and what site you want the data on.  There is a notes tab in which you can make detailed notes on players.  Then there are the “tabs” which house all the data collected and sorted.

Key stats are the basic vital statistics on opponent type for basic profiling.  How tight, how loose, how aggressive, how many hands tracked, do they steal a lot, what percent of flops seen do they take to showdown, what percent of showdowns they win, how often they cold call preflop and are they more aggressive in late position post flop?  How aggressive are they normally post flop?  The other tabs break the data down further to preflop, flop, turn, river and showdown with statistical data on every street for every action.  All of this is given in numbers and percents for you to use and combine to determine what your opponent’s style and range can be.  Then you can decide if you want to try to bluff, steal, call, fold, be aggressive or passive etc… 

 Profile your opponents the legal way - watch these videos:

Now Poker Edge doesn’t tell you what to do or how to play an opponent.  That is up to you to make decisions.  It only tells you what the player does historically.  There is another feature on the showdowns tab that lists recent showdowns of the player.  A short hand history graphic that shows what they played from what position and any actions along the way to showdown including if they won or lost the hand.  There is a feature in the options to alter and adjust the information shown on the Key Stats tab.  For starters until you are familiar with the program it’s best not to mess with the default settings.  You can adjust them later to suit your taste and what is important to you.  On the other hand, if you do mess with them you can always go back and click on the restore default button to put it back right.

The other part of the program is the “lookup window”.  Both the Main and Lookup window can be positioned around your desktop however suits you.  I have the main on the right and the lookup at the bottom.  The lookup window lists every game table you have opened up to the limit of the poker site you are on.  In the case of Full Tilt it is limited only to 16 tables as that is the max you can have opened at the time of this writing.  Besides listing the tables opened it also lists the players at each table with their names color coded for tight, loose, neutral, very tight or very loose.  Also an icon is assigned to each player.  This icon is also in the Heads Up Display “HUD” on the game table itself which also has a set of important key stats on each player.  Hovering your cursor over the icon in the HUD will cause a drop down box to appear with another selection of critical data.  The icons can be customized in the main window setup functions as well as the formula for each icon and it’s color coding. 

Again, I recommend against making any changes to these unless you are extremely familiar with the program.  After two years I finally made a couple tweaks to the stats important to me in the HUD box and added some icons and player types to my profiling system to fit the way I read data and profile my opponents.  In the lookup window you further set the filters for what data you want showing on the table display.  Full limit, short limit, full no limit, short no limit, Bison & Bison is also an option.

For example, on Full Tilt I use 4 colors to flag my opponents as tight, loose, winners, losers, etc…  Then as the game progresses I monitor what they do and how they play and make any note adjustments or change colors as needed.  This takes the first few rounds which is rock play for me anyway.  I will hover over their icons and see if they reraised preflop and what percent and if they DO reraise preflop, what percentage of the time have they won when they did. 

I look at how often they will bet the flop if they raised preflop AND what percent the time will they win as well as compare it to their turn aggression and flop aggression to see who might cBet and surrender.  When I have time I look up each player in PE main by clicking on their name in the lookup window.  Then look to see if they have any recent showdowns recorded and get a rough feel for their range and propensity.  For example if they had AA and were UTG and limped, min bet once, they probably would again. 

The Poker Edge program is this in depth and intense with tons of data on every street.  It takes quite a while to become proficient with it and get the most from it.  But there is a LOT to be gained from the instant it’s first used.  Usually you sit at a table and unless you have notes on the player or history of play with them in your own personal data base, you are completely in the dark on what you are up against until well into the game. 

With PE you instantly have some data on most of your opponents and a rudimentary knowledge if they are loose, tight, neutral, aggressive, passive, calling station, win or lose showdowns -  All in the first minute.  After that you can dig on each player as much as you want and can monitor and annotate each player with your own first hand knowledge from playing them in this game.  The program is awesome and has saved me thousands of dollars and won me countless of hands.  Someone has a history of playing a certain way and normally I may fold but knowing that is just how they play and not their cards I will play and win the hand if my read is right.

I love PE and avoid playing sites where I can’t use it because it doesn’t support that site.  But it is historical data.  I use PE in conjunction with Tournament Indicator for tourney play and Holdem Indicator for cash game play.  This way I have a summary of their current play right now in this game for a few key stats and can compare them to their historical stats in PE.  If there is a difference I watch to see why.  Are they on tilt, getting better, playing worse, etc…. 

 Profile your opponents the legal way - watch these videos:

I always adjust my game to the here and now, however, people are creatures of habit.  Except for a player improving or on tilt and steaming, usually the short term stats and long terms stats are relatively close if not dead on in some cases.  Sometimes it can be a short run of good or bad cards and good or bad luck.  Knowledge is power and data gives me knowledge which empowers me to play better and make plays, better lay downs and better reads on my opponents.  It helps me to become a better player overall.  Honestly, I can’t imagine playing online poker without these.  I highly recommend you give it a test drive and see for yourself.