Types of skill-enhancing software for poker players

A successful professional poker player who isn’t using some sort of third-party tools to sharpen their skills is an exception in the modern world. But if you never ever run any of the relevant apps, it can be very hard to navigate them. In this article we offer you a short and simple guide of poker software with a few examples.

Poker Calculators

A calculator in poker is used for calculating the mathematical probability of having different outcomes for your hand in a specific spot and expected value (EV) of any action during play. They can’t automatically collect information, but support manual filling in of data or hand history uploading.

All calculators are divided into two types:

• Odds calculator to calculate one’s winning ratio;

• Advanced calculator to calculate decisions’ tree for different spots considering ICM, chipEV, etc.

Both of them provide player advantage in game and that’s why they are prohibited to even be launched on a background together with any poker rooms’ applications.

TOP-3 poker calculators

1. HoldemResources Calculator
2. ICMizer
3. PokerListings Odds Calculator

Poker Trackers

A tracker is a poker software for collecting statistics from cash tables and tournaments during your poker session and reviewing it with the help of intuitive functionality.

Trackers differ in their options, but they have the similar foundation — as an example we use Hand2Note screenshots:

• Automated scripts for gathering statistics from rooms’ hand history files on you and your opponents;

• Sorting and reviewing tools for working with statistics inside app;

• Static customizable Heads-Up Display (HUD) — specialized tab with numerical display of all-time individual statistics for each player who were playing at the same tables as you, including some patterns of their behavior.

Trackers offer other types of HUD, but it has to be noted that they aren’t allowed to be used, even in most of the rooms where the tracker itself isn’t prohibited. For example, Dynamic HUD that adapts displayed statistics to different situations within a hand, taking players’ actions into account. Or Positional HUD that does the same but in regard to everyone’s position at the table.

Finally, some poker trackers support gathering statistics and HUD for poker club apps, such as PPPoker and PokerBROS, but there are two tricks you need to be aware of.

First, since club poker rooms initially were developed as mobile apps, they aren’t naturally compatible with third-party software without some near to prohibited “crutches”.

Second, most poker club apps don’t allow you to use trackers and any other auxiliary poker software for playing in them.

TOP-3 poker trackers

1. Hand2Note
2. Holdem Manager
3. Poker Tracker

Examples of ruling for trackers in 2024

Trackers are allowed with restrictions	Trackers are prohibited
PokerStars	partypoker
Chico Network	GGPoker
iPoker Network	CoinPoker
888poker	4Poker
RedStar Poker	JackPoker

Poker Solvers

A solver is a poker software that gives players an opportunity to run simulations of different spots to estimate closeness of decisions to Game Theory Optimal (GTO). It means, this tool is used to calculate trees of optimal solutions from your inputs.

Solver can help you to understand the mathematical value of each decision in different scenarios in spots using factual information from the player itself and his presumptive suggestions about opponents’ ranges, bet sizing, effective stacks, etc.

This type of tool helps players to get a deeper understanding of poker’s mathematical side and find a way to get more value from each spot. So, obviously, it gives players a huge advantage in decision-making and that makes them the most prohibited software to use during play in the poker industry.

TOP-3 poker solvers

1. GTO Wizard
2. Simple Postflop
3. PioSOLVER

Poker Trainers

A trainer in poker helps players to sharpen speed and precision of decision-making in a fun, dynamic and simple form of repeating questionnaires.

This software is almost never mentioned in poker websites terms, ecology and security or other rulings. Presumably, it’s because they help with training but can’t quickly give players a solution for the current situation. However, it is safer to check with the room’s support to clarify poker trainers’ status before using them while playing poker.

TOP-3 poker trainers

1. SNG Coach form ICMizer
2. Simple GTO Trainer
3. GTO Sensei