Texas Holdem Software for Tracking You Stats

I cannot recommend using any tracking/data mining software that violates the Terms of Service Agreement with your Poker Site or is in anyway illegal. That said, tracking software can be a great learning tool and can make record keeping a breeze. Let's review some of the game stats that most good tracking software tacks for you.

1. Percentage of Flops Seen (VPIP):
How loose or tight you play your cards can be measure by the percentage of flops you see, also known as VPIP.  You want your average range of starting hands to outperform those of your opponents.  You want to play tight.

At a full table, only 10-11% of the hands are yours.  If you are seeing 20-22% of the flops then you are playing tight.  If you see 31%, you are average.  If you are seeing over 40% at a full table, you are definitely playing too loose.

For shorthanded play of six players, 30-35% would be tight, 40%average, 50% or more would be loose.  For heads up play is a different animal all together where just about any two card will see the flop.

2. Pre Flop Raises (PFR):
It is usually better to bet or raise than it is to call.  You must be tight and aggressive, unless you need to change your image temporarily.  The percentage of times you raise before the flop is one measure of how aggressive or passive you are.  The common symbol for this in most tracking software stats is PFR.  A rating greater than 10% is aggressive.  A rating less that 3% is passive.

3. Post Flop Aggression (PFA or FL-See/Aggr)
A Post Flop Aggression rating higher than 2.0 is aggressive, 1.5 is average, 1.0 or below is passive.

You can use all of these stats and many more to evaluate your play and to analyze any relationships they may have to your bottom line in the form of Win Rate and ROI.

There are 71 approved tracking programs listed on Poker Stars at the time of this writing. Here are a few that may be worth considering: Poker Tracker, Poker Ace HUD, Poker Evolver, and Tournament Shark. Check the Poker Stars site yourself for a complete and current list.

Before You Purchase Any Software
Most of the tracking software merchants will try to get you to sign up to various poker rooms through them so they can receive 100% of your RakeBack. Always sign up through a reputable RakeBack company when signing up for a poker room. This way you can keep a percentage for yourself. And always check for compatibility with your poker room software and read your poker site's Terms of Service.