how necessary is software in playing?

the lower you play (ie. the larger the player pool is) the more important it is
the more tables you play the more important it is

very important , even just to review your play

1=not
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4=no
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10=do pt2

i start to shake when i go a few hours without it. i cant play live because people don't have little numbers around their heads. it's that bad

really, I dont play as much as you do and I could still tell you 75% of the regs stats and the people I don't know I assume thats a good thing until proven otherwise

in general i know how regs play but i dont look for tables w/ regs and i dont look for reg wars. i play vs fish and only try to play if there is a fish to my right somewhere.... most fish i dont have any hands on. since most of my money comes from these players, a hud really helps when multitabling.

i was kidding about not being able to play w/o but i hate live when someone 3bets me in position and i have 99 and i think "man if only i had HEM right now i would know 100% how this player plays.

to answer OP, its hard to play 100% efficiently w/o a hud and i'm sure its possible to play w/o one (even multi-tabling) profitably.... but for me it just isnt worth it. i would much rather spend the 1/2 buyin or w/e it is and improve my winrate

Thats what I meant by the people I don't recognize.

Anyway live, in my expierences the peeps % are off to the extreme one way or the other anyway that it doesn't really matter. And they're terrible with ranges.

sounds like you shouldn't be playing FR tbh

on a scale of 1-10, I would say its a 15.

For a true poker player its not really necc and is more of a crutch.

i change my mind.

now I think its -15 on scale of 1-10

carry on.

get it ASAP, took me over half a year to finally get it and I could be alot better right now and winning alot more right now..

Depends on the game and lineup. Everyone so far is assuming ur playing 100NL - 400NL FR, which in that case its almost a must because u get hands on people so fast and it will aid you in ur decision making processes. However if ur playing 25/50 6Max its prob close to useless in game for the HUD and stuff like that and would be used more just to go over hands and keep track of profits.

bout three fiddy then

Why would 6-max be better for this type of player?

Why is a HUD less important playing at 25/50 6Max?

Because ranges are going to be much more dynamic to the situation. Like in FR if an 11/9 opens UTG his range a good 90% of the time is 77+ AQ+, wheras in a HS 6max setting a good player will adjust there opening ranges based on the player types at the table. Also a HUD is going to be useless at those levels because so many things are going to be situational, I mean u have FR nit regs that are cbetting 100% of their EP range regardless of board texture, you have ones that will only c/r sets, ranges widen and generally the players are just more of thinking type when u get into a shorthanded higher limit game.

This is the truth. If you are only playing one or two tables you can get away with just watching how opponents play and making notes on your own. Anything more its necessary to have a HUD.

6max and HU are far more conducive to playing against fish and having fish on your immediate right at all your tables. that's why you find the most bumhunters (proportionally to how many regs there are) at HU - next at 6max, and lastly at FR. FR is more about playing against bad regs, playing tons of tables for easy rakeback/FPP's, etc imo.

HEM paid for itself the first time I ever used it.

Aside from high stakes games, I'm not sure if online poker is beatable without it.

playing online poker without HEM is like trying to type without a keyboard

guys, stop leveling.

stats are useless.

which software is recommended?
i know of only poker tracker and hold em manager. could someone explain the benefits of one over the other.
thanks

software is a crutch