Cake Poker is incredibly popular among the United States poker players today, but one thing that made them a bit different than many online poker sites was the fact that they did not allow players to use Hand Tracking Software. The site had decided to avoid allowing players to use this for years now, until just this past week. Cake Poker created a brand new policy, which in turn would allow their players to use Hand Tracking Software such as Poker Tracker and Hold’em Manager.
This software gives players the chance to collect information about the players who they are up against in cash games or tournaments, and saves the information. Players have the option to go back and watch how hands were played, and also to see what their opponents were holding in their hand, if the hand went to showdown. It also gives information on bet sizes, chip stacks throughout the hands, community cards, and what the final result was. One of the other popular features that these programs offer, is the ability to track your wins and losses for the day, week, month, or year. This helps players know when their game is improving, or if they have not be playing incredibly well as of late.
Another thing that the software does is allows players to use a Heads Up Display (HUD). This HUD gives players information about opponents at their table ranging from their pre-flop raise percentages, aggression factor, and often they play a hand in general. The HUD is where the complaints have come from mainly, with recreational players feeling that it gives professionals an unfair advantage. Of course, the argument from the other side is that this software is available to everyone and anyone who wants to purchase it.
It will be interesting to see how this affects Cake Poker’s online traffic in the upcoming months, and also if it fills up their high stakes tables as well. Cake Poker does allow recreational players the option to avoid being tracked though, by letting them change their poker screen name every seven days. In the end, this could be good news for both types of players, and should keep Cakes’ online traffic growing!