Prohibited Online Poker Software Programs

I bought Poker Office a while ago and I tried the free version of Hold 'em Pirate out of curiosity.

Hold 'em Pirate simply doesn't work at Poker Stars and I've never tried it anywhere else.

Poker Office worked fine at first but seems to be more confusing than anything lately and I haven't gotten to the bottom of it.

It does however provide a wealth of (mostly depressing) information about my own play.

I think, for beginning/intermediste players, concentrating on playing our own cards well is more important than the play of others. I'm slowly integrating guesses about other players' behaviour into my betting choices.

Prohibited Online Poker Software FAQ

"... people have developed programs to help them play better online. We think it is okay for players to use some of those programs. However, some of those programs go beyond what we consider acceptable as an aid in playing online.

There is a range of things that a player can do to improve his chances in a poker game. For instance, he can play a lot and gain experience, or he can read a book about poker. Both of these techniques are clearly appropriate. At the other end of the spectrum, he can work in collusion with another player, sharing information about hole cards and teaming up against other players. This is clearly cheating.

In between those two extremes are many programs - some of which we consider to be too close to cheating. For example, there are people building huge databases with profiles of every player on PokerStars, and they are selling access to these databases. A player with access to such a database can call up detailed information about every one of his opponents without ever playing against those opponents himself. We believe this gives that player an unfair advantage against others at his table."

"Q. In general, what kind of programs are acceptable?

A. 1. Programs (or charts) that simply tell you odds, starting hand recommendations, etc.
2. Programs that profile your opponents, but make use of only information which you have accumulated by your own play."


--PB--