Message Board : Online software

I don’t know… it’s hard to quantify the edge.

If you and Mark are both playing one table, then I think the edge is not too much. Using SpadeEye, Mark is going to easily be able to find one of the best tables to sit at, whereas you’re going to have trouble doing that unless you happen to get lucky and recognize the name of someone you really want to play with. That’s the biggest edge on any single table I think.

Once you’re playing at the table, I don’t think he has so much of an edge, especially if you take notes (using the built-in notetaking feature) on your opponents regularly. The new version 3 of PokerTracker has a stat that says how often someone 3-bets, which would be pretty useful statistical information to have that can be a little bit hard to unravel just by watching someone play a few hundred hands. But most of the other stuff that PokerTracker/PAHUD would tell you is stuff you could figure out fairly quickly just by paying attention, taking notes, and having a general feel for how the regulars at your site and limit tend to play.

For instance, general consesus is that PokerTracker/PAHUD doesn’t help so much for heads-up play. I don’t think it’s because the stats are particularly less telling, I think it’s mostly just that heads-up players tend to play fewer tables and just focus on their opponents more closely, like you would in a live setting. So, in other words, those that do play fewer tables get less relative benefit out of the PokerTracker/PAHUD setup.

If you start multitabling, then Mark has a significantly bigger edge, I think. His table selection decisions are going to be much sharper than yours, and he’s going to be playing a higher percentage of his hands in "just sat down at the table" condition where his stats give him the advantage over your relatively readless state. 

And if you and Mark are equally skilled, but you’re playing one table and he’s playing 6-8, but he has all the software… I don’t think necessarily that he gets the best of you individually when you enter pots with him. Your single table focus is probably worth more in that situation than his stats are… but that’s ultimately sort of a semi-meaningless hypothetical because unless you’re playing heads-up, your edge is calculated against all of your opponents, not just one.