I just joined the forums recently when I decided to get a little more serious about poker. After reading through the forums, it seems like just about everyone uses Poker Tracker or a similar package. In order to become a winning player, is it pretty certain that I'm gonna need to use something like this?

It seems like it is such a necessity among serious poker players that anyone not using such a system is at a disadvantage. Are there are winning players that don't keep any of these stats?

phil ivey doesnt use it

pt,best money you can spent

Hi GoDownSwingn

PokerTracker is an invaluable tool for many online players. It really helps plug the gap between live and online poker where you can't "see" your opponent and get a read on their actions. By using hand history stats to track their actions it can really give you insight into how your opponents play.

That being said, you do not have to use Poker Tracker to be a winning player. I have a friend who is a consistent winner at 3/6 and 5/10 NL (I know its not a huge game but its sure higher than I play) and doesn't use it, and another acquaintance of mine said that even at 15/30 and 30/60 limit he only suspected that about 50% of the players at those levels used PT (Though that was about 8 months ago things may have changed).

If you really put effort into studying your opponents and taking good notes on players, you can get by without using PT. But especially if you multitable, keeping tabs on 30-40 different opponents can be extremely difficult, and its great to have a program that can do it for you. With the statistical overlay provided through programs like GT+ and PAHud, it can really help you form your play against your oppponent's strengths and weaknesses.

PT also has the advantage of letting you go through your previous hands and really analyze your play. You can see where your biggest winnings and losings are, and really plug leaks in your game.

So, to summarize - Yes, there are winning players who don't use PT. However, as a caveat, these people tend to already be very good poker players and very adept and hand reading / player reading (thus playing as if they had their opponents stats available). If you are like most of us, PT is a great asset to helping your play.

Another thing about PT that helps experienced players (those that win significant amounts of money) is keeping track of wins and losses for taxation purposes. In the US you are expected to pay income taxes on your poker winnings if it exceeds the income tax minimum.

Edit: OP did mentioned where he was from after all.