Your first steps with Poker Tracker 4!

Here we have a minimal HUD with only a few pieces of information, but you will be able to display as many statistics as you like. On the HUD above, we first have (top left) the notes tab that you can click on to see the player's notes. Then we have the player's name, his number of big blinds (BB), in red we have the number of hands collected on each player, his VPIP (the percentage of time the player has voluntarily invested preflop money), the PR or PFR, that is to say his preflop raise percentage and finally the AFq, that is to say his postflop aggression frequency. You can click on the statistics to get a more detailed panel of information. Here is an example

The Poker Tracker 4 software works as well on a Mac as on a PC with Windows and as there is a whole team working on this software all the time, it is very stable and regularly updated. It is also possible to use Poker Tracker 4 free for 30 days to discover the software. You can read later in this article how to enjoy PT4 for 1 month for free

If you are just starting out with HUDs, stay with us and we will guide you step by step to help you install and use Poker Tracker

2- On the home screen, click on the DOWNLOAD button to download the free 30-day trial version of the software

3- For the Windows version, click on DOWNLOAD. For the MacOS version click below

4- For this tutorial, we will show you how to install the Windows version of the software on a PC, but the installation on a MAC is very similar. Once the download is complete, open the file and please accept the conditions:

By default, the software will be installed here

To avoid any complications, it is strongly suggested to install Poker Tracker 4 in its default folder

Depending on your processor speed, the software should install in less than a minute. Once the installation is complete, you can click on "Finish" to launch Poker Tracker 4

This is where you will be able to activate your 30-day licence free of charge. There are 3 types of license with Poker Tracker 4. A Hold'em license exclusively, an Omaha license exclusively, or a Hold'em + Omaha license. For the trial licence, you will only be able to choose one of the first two, depending on your preferred variant. For this tutorial, we will choose the Hold'em version

Once this is done, you will see this window appear

Leave the default information and click "Connect". If you are unlucky and an error occurs, I know that some people have been successful in changing the default password "dbpass" to "postgrespass". Try this option if "dbpass" doesn't work

If this is a first time installation, you will be asked to create a database in which your hands will be stored. You will be able to leave the default information

You will finally be able to click on "Connect"

If everything works perfectly, you will get this message

Thereafter, the software will want to optimize the database according to the precise characteristics of your computer. You will be able to click "Yes"

It should be noted that Poker Tracker will work on all types of hard drives, but an electronic hard drive (SSD) is recommended to speed up the software (especially when you will have a huge database over time). The faster your hard drive, the easier it will be to navigate PT4. The larger your database will be, the better

We are now at the 7 steps of setting up Poker Tracker 4.

Let's start:

Step 2, choosing the currency. Depending on your poker room, the currency will not be the same. You will be able to scroll through the menu to choose the currency you use in your games

Once this is done, press "Next"

Step 3, poker room setup. If you have previously installed poker rooms on your computer, Poker Tracker 4 should recognize them. If not, you can set the rooms you plan to install to "YES". You will be able to install these poker rooms after the installation of PT4, there is no problem

Once all active rooms are selected, press "Next"

In step 3 of 7, Poker Tracker will want to configure each poker room installed on your computer individually. For example, here I am asked in which folder the recorded poker hands are stored. In the majority of cases, Poker Tracker 4 will automatically detect the path

The next step is to choose your favourite seat.

The reason this is useful is to get the right stats for the right players. Poker Tracker 4 will display player stats according to their seat number. However, if for example you select the option in your poker room to always sit on seat number 6, you will want to inform Poker Tracker 4, otherwise it will display your stats in the wrong place. Choose your favourite seat if you have one for all types of tables. When you multi-table, instead of sitting in random seats and having to look for each other every time, it will be easier for the eye to always see you sitting in the same place. This is why we have the option to choose your favourite seat

The above steps will need to be repeated for all your poker rooms installed on your computer.

Once completed, the setup wizard will want to scan your computer for files of previously played poker hands

Click 'Next' to accept.

Step 4 of 7, here it's more aesthetic than practical, you can choose the look of Poker Tracker 4. It's up to you to see your preferences

Step 5 of 7. Now choose your favourite seat to replay from Poker Tracker 4. By choosing a favorite seat, regardless of the actual seat you were sitting on during the hand, Poker Tracker will position you on your favorite seat. When you see several hands again, it makes it easier to know you are always on the same seat

Importing pre-existing databases. If you had other software installed on your computer (Hold'em Manager for example), Poker Tracker 4 will be able to import the databases already created

If everything went well in the previous steps, you should get this pop-up.

This is a sign that everything has been done, that everything is ready and that you can run PT4 successfully. Click on "Finish" to finish

By "tracker" we mean its ability to record the hands you play to analyse your play later. You will be able to find out how many sessions you played during the month, for example, how many sessions you won, how many sessions you lost, whether you played aggressively, passively, etc. You will be able to know the players against whom you make a lot of money, the players against whom you lose the most money, review the big pots you won or lost, etc.

You will also get a report on your tournaments, not just your cash games.

Over time, you will be able to find out what works well and what doesn't work for you. By looking at these statistics, we can make discoveries that will help us better orient ourselves. Are we more successful in cash games or tournaments? And if we are more successful in tournaments, for example, which variant works best for us? Hyper turbo, turbo or regular? SitNgos or regular tournaments? Etc. With time, we will have a mine of very precious information

The Replayer allows you to review a hand you have played. During your sessions, it will be easy for you to mark some hands in the heat of the action and review them later. You can then review them with a friend to discuss them later. This is a great way to improve as a poker player

PT4 gives you the ability to filter your database to find specific types of hands. For example, you suspect losing a lot of money in the 3bets pots out of position? With the filters, you will be able to get an overall picture of your performance in all the 3bets in your database in which you were out of position. Once the filter is created, you can save it for future use

You will be able to know if you are making or losing money in X or Y situation. You will also be able to review all the hands played in your replayer to analyse your actions in detail. Another great tool to improve your game. It's not enough to know that you are losing, you need to know where you are losing money. You can then work precisely on one aspect of your game

Some software will charge you extra for the automatic note-taking option, but not PT4. The software already has an option to automatically take notes on your opponents. The more hands you have on an opponent, the more accurate and complete the notes will be. Let's see how these notes are displayed, even with a small sample:

It will also be possible to add your own notes to merge them with the automatic notes

You will be able to compare your stats to the optimal stats suggested by Poker Tracker 4. The goal is to have statistics that are similar to those of the biggest winners in your pool of players. This will tell you if you are playing too few or too many hands, if you bet too little or too much, and so on. Again, some software will charge you for this extra option, but here it is included free of charge with the Poker Tracker 4 license

The HUD editor is intuitive and easy to use. You will be able to use colour codes, different font types, several text sizes, etc. The list of available statistics is impressive. We have everything from the classic VPIP (Volontary Put Money Into Pot) to the sharpest percentage of cbet out of position in 4-bets pots

And if ever the statistic of your dreams is not available, you will always have the possibility to create it yourself with the statistics editor

Here, you will need more knowledge to create a note, but still know that the option is available

We could go on listing the various options in PT4 for more pages and pages, but let's just say that these are some of the key features that quickly came to mind

Like a picture is worth 1000 words