Interview with Steven McLoughlin from PokerTracker 4: Part 1
Today we sit down with developer Steven McLoughlin, to learn about some of the new features available on PokerTracker 4.
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"PokerTracker allowed players to simulate the live experience"
PokerStrategy.com: How much would you say poker has changed because of PokerTracker?
Steven McLoughlin: PokerTracker is celebrating its 12th year providing tools for online poker players in 2013. The company’s owners were the creators of PokerAce HUD, the first commercially available HUD add-on tool to PokerTracker 2.
PT2 allowed players to provide new self analysis abilities that were never before available, and in turn PokerAce HUD allowed players to increase the number of tables they played on at the same time.
Human beings are not “programmed” to remember screen names, this is very different from live games where we tend to remember our opponents and how they play through the way they look, the sound of their voice, or some other type of physical attribute combined with our memory of their playing style.
PokerTracker’s stats allowed players to simulate this live poker experience for the first time, the HUD allows the actions of your opponents to become more memorable.
"The players are the reason for the evolution in poker"
| Steven McLoughlin |
| Steven McLoughlin is a member of the PokerTracker Software executive management team, he is the chief brand strategist and player lobbyist for the company.
In addition to his business expertise he also was involved in the design of several user interface components in PokerTracker 4. Steve is proud to celebrate his company's 12th year in business with the upcoming release of PokerTracker 4 for OSX. |
PokerStrategy.com: Would you say PokerTracker was one of the main reasons for the fast evolution of poker in the last decade?
Steven McLoughlin: It would be nice to take all of the credit, but the truth is players themselves are responsible for the fast evolution of poker in the last decade.
PokerTracker is just a tool that players can use to perform faster and more complex research than they could do in the past.
The players are the reason why we have progressed so quickly. The internet allowed players to share their research with their peers on forums like PokerStrategy.com.
This is one of the reasons why we introduced the first built in hand history converter in PT3, and it is also why we included the ability to export replayed hands or sessions to YouTube in PokerTracker 4.
"We work very closely with the poker rooms"
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| Steven McLoughlin |
PokerStrategy.com: How closely do you work with poker rooms to make sure you adhere to their T&Cs?
Steven McLoughlin: We work very closely with the majority of the online poker rooms we support, the only network we do not speak with regularly is iPoker - but even they provide us occasional information updates when necessary.
Before we consider adding any new poker site the first thing we do is review the rules provided in the site's terms of service, to make sure we are legally permitted to operate.
The next step is to reach out to the network to establish a relationship with both the management team and the developers.
We believe this close relationship benefits our users, and in turn helps the site understand the tremendous benefits that PokerTracker provides to their business.
"PokerTracker 4 was built from the ground up"
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| The new NoteTracker feature |
PokerStrategy.com: What are the main differences with the current PT4 and the previous version?
Steven McLoughlin: PokerTracker 4 was built from the ground up with five goals:
1. Provide a simple experience for our users so the learning curve is greatly reduced, if you know how to use software like a web browser then it should not take you long to learn the basic functionality of PokerTracker 4.
2. Provide tools that inexperienced or world class players would be able to benefit from
3. Assure a clean workflow that augments but does not interfere with the player’s game
4. Include every tool the player needs to succeed in PokerTracker 4, without forcing our users to buy extra third party add-ons at an additional cost. This is why we included the most powerful ICM tools available in any tracker, a comprehensive equity calculator that includes Omaha hand range creation, and also NoteTracker’s automated note taking solution.
A complete package from one of our biggest competitors could cost 3x as much after buying all the add-ons necessary to match the functionality of PokerTracker 4.
5. Make sure that the HUD is the best looking and most flexible available to online poker players
"We added the ability to display stack size at the table"
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| New ways to analyse your game |
PokerStrategy.com: One of the features allows you to see player stacks in terms of number of blinds rather than the actual money amounts. Do you think this gives players a mental edge, because they can be more objective?
Steven McLoughlin: We added the ability to display the player’s stack size at the table in PokerTracker 4 because the players themselves always refer to decisions based on stack size in big blinds.
We feel this helps players be more efficient, it lowers the amount of time a player needs to make a decision and therefore makes the games move faster. Everyone benefits from faster games!
PokerStrategy.com: Tell us more about how the Vector HUD works.
Steven McLoughlin: The Vector HUD Engine is the name for the technologies we use to provide a HUD that scales in proportion with the table. We pin each player’s HUD group to its respective position at the table, this way as the table changes size, the HUD group is always in the same location.
Another advancement in our HUD technologies is the use of the computer’s GPU to help render the HUD on the screen, freeing your computer’s CPU to work on complicated database queries. I am also a huge fan of our “Display Type” function which lowers the opacity of all on-table HUD groups until you hover over the player, this allows you to reduce HUD clutter and improve your workflow while playing.
The HUD Profile Editor allows you to drag and drop your stats to any position, this is not part of the Vector HUD Engine but it works together as a team to make sure you can get the most out of your in-game experience.
"We created LeakTracker to help our newer users"
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| LeakTracker |
PokerStrategy.com: Tell us more about LeakTracker.
Steven McLoughlin: We created LeakTracker to help our newer users who have a lot of questions about how their own stats compare to the stats of other winning players. Of course the larger your sample size, the more accurate the results will be.
We have included very helpful videos which explain the formula used to calculate the stat, and some tips how to modify your play to help your stat results be within the common range for winning players.
PokerStrategy.com: You have lots of features (ICM, equity calculator etc) all built in, how important was it to make PT4 a one stop shop?
Steven McLoughlin: It was very important for us to provide all of the tools that players need to do their job, so important that this was one of our five goals when we envisioned PokerTracker 4, and it had to be at no additional cost to our users.
Compare the cost of PokerTracker 4 with all available features to our biggest competitor with all the add-ons necessary to get equal functionality - PokerTracker is just 1/3 the cost, making us the most logical choice for low and micro stakes players who operate with a smaller poker budget.
Higher stakes players still benefit from many features that are only available in PokerTracker 4 such as hand range modelling, 9 handed ICM calculation for “exotic games” such as Double or Nothings, 50-50s, and Rebuys, and our enumeration of all-in equity adjusted winnings.
Of course any discussion of PokerTracker 4 must also include its ability to import customisations that are shared by our users in the PokerTracker 4 Download Warehouse.
Learn about PokerTracker 4 in more detail
Join us next week for part 2 of this interview.
