Interview with PokerRanger creator 'Eisflamme'
We chat to the man behind hand evaluation tool PokerRanger to see what unique features it offers.
To see PokerRanger in action, check out this video of the live coaching we did with BogdanPS and Eisflamme on how to use PokerRanger.
PokerStrategy.com: Tell us about your own history as a player and software developer.
eisflamme: Well, I have been playing poker for several years but not really that intensive. I played around NL25-NL200.
Software development is something I learned as a teenager. Although I studied business information systems as a bachelor, I have not really learned programming there.
I rather enjoyed creating my own games with DirectX/OpenGL (no really finished projects except for some Tetris clones) and different software projects or other tools. Apart from that, I create websites from time to time or work as a freelancer. And of course, PokerRanger has been a project for some time, now.
"PokerRanger is intuitive to use"
 |
| "Eisflamme" |
PokerStrategy.com: What led you to create PokerRanger?
eisflamme: I started developing this software, when several of my poker friends and I found out that there are a lot of tools but it would be nice to have an easy way to evaluate EV situations. So, I figured that I should probably start with an equity calculation tool.
After that, many users tried the software and really liked it. Friends encouraged me to extend the software even further. After some time, I aimed to create a software which unifies the features of all the other tools and which is really easy to use.
PokerStrategy.com: What did you think was missing from previous equity calculators?
eisflamme: Actually, I think that the equity calculation part is very well covered. Equilab is really fast, even for multiway scenarios, Nopi did a very nice job here. However, all the tools have only focused on one special function mainly. I thought that it would be much nicer to have all the functions in one tool. And there are some PokerRanger functions which no other tool has like the EquityTables which comes in handy in many situations.
PokerStrategy.com: How does PokerRanger differ to what is already on the market?
eisflamme: Phew, this is a question whose answer could fill several paragraphs. Apart from the unifying aspect, PokerRanger has a lot of functions which cannot be found at all in other software. For example, figuring what the equity for each specific hand against another range is.
Also, the training function is unique. And the EV/FE tab is not as powerful as CardrunnersEV but it is easy to use and many users prefer it for some analyses. PokerRanger is a tool which unifies the most important features but is enriched with many additional ones and is intuitive to use (and will be even easier to use in the future).
"All tabs of PokerRanger use card removal effects"
 |
| PokerRanger's Equity Calculator |
PokerStrategy.com: Is PokerRanger useful for teaching players about card removal effect?
eisflamme: All the tabs of PokerRanger use card removal effects for the calculations, so I would definitely say yes. However, I would also say that card removal effects are not the most important part of the game.
But if you liked to learn more about that, you could - to only name one example - use the "Two Player Board Hits Tab" that is like FlopZilla but takes those card removal effects into account. There, for instance, you could check out what will happen, if the other player blocks your flush draws.
PokerStrategy.com: The fold equity and EV calculator seems to be the best feature, can you explain more about that?
eisflamme: Well, the basic idea of this tab is that you can explore the expected value for different basic scenarios. For example, you could analyse how the EV of a bet evolves, when you have specific assumptions about villain's reactions against your bet.
Once you have determined the sizes and ranges for the different reactions (or imported them from a hand history), you can play around very fast which helps you to understand how the expected value reacts to different parameters.
"PokerRanger is not just a tool, it is a toolset"
 |
| The Equity Evolution feature |
PokerStrategy.com: What is equity evolution?
eisflamme: This is a tab which shows how the equity of a player's range changes when different board cards appear.
For example, if you have a flush draw of hearts and are given two-suited flop with two hearts, then your equity will (against most ranges) be very high on heart turns. This will be shown by large red (heart) bars but lower other-suit bars.
PokerStrategy.com: What feature do you think is most valuable for players already familiar with equity calculators?
eisflamme: I think the answer to this question is highly individual. The different features of PokerRanger can be used to train your understanding of equity, hit probabilities for ranges, relative hand strengths of different hand types (like e.g. pairs) on specific boards or the expected value and fold equity for particular lines. You as a poker player can have leaks in all of these areas and each tab is focused on a specific skill.
Probably, the most valuable feature for some player is the one focused on his largest leaks. After he has improved in that particular area, another feature might become most useful. PokerRanger is not just a tool but it is a toolset, so that everyone will find something what he needs.
PokerStrategy.com: Thanks very much, we look forward to you answering our members' questions on our dedicated PokerRanger forum.
Watch our PokerRanger training video
//
