Ignition HUD - Heads Up Display, Tracking & Other Poker Software
Ignition Casino's poker software is similar to that of Bovada and Bodog. In fact, after purchasing Bovada, Ignition has kept the same policies regarding third-party software intact. These policies severely limit the type of, and thus the amount of, software options available in the marketplace. However, that does not mean that all hope is lost. One can still use heads-up displays and tracking software though there are some restrictions on functionality.
Heads-Up Displays - HUDs
Heads-up displays are the main weapon in the arsenal of any online poker professional. They allow us to keep track of ongoing game conditions and provide statistics for us in convenient displays so that we can focus more on other aspects of our game. When used properly, HUDs are very +EV tools.
At Ignition's poker room, the game-play is all anonymous. This defeats the long-term opponent tracking features of the most popular HUDs such as Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager. However, short-term player tracking does function quite well!
Short-term player tracking means that there is a program that can track player statistics in real time, on all of your Ignition poker tables, but it is limited to only tracking data during each individual session. In other words, when you leave the table, the data is lost. This is because players on the site do not have names; they only have numbers assigned to them based on what seat they occupy at any given table. And "player 1" at one of your tables is not "player 1" at another, so the software cannot aggregate the data.
How to use a HUD properly with small sample sizes
Players often ask us "what good is short-term, per-session stat tracking?" It is something we overlooked at first ourselves, but we soon learned the error of our ways.
Let us face it: Most people looking for a HUD are pros, semi-pros, or, at the very least, aspiring pros, with a few hardcore enthusiasts thrown in for good measure. And as such, all of us are thinking about how to maximize the amount of money we win while playing poker. Nowadays, especially in the US and Aussie poker markets, that requires playing on multiple poker sites at the same time since we can no longer rely on hugely liquid sites like PokerStars or 888.
When multi-siting, one is dealing with two, three, maybe even more than four different poker software clients at the same time. Arranging the lobbies, moving around the tables, hunting for new games, and playing the ones you're currently involved in takes a lot of focus and concentration. And this of course, no matter how good one is, takes some small toll on one's winrate.
One of the best uses we have found for an Ignition HUD is to keep track of players on these anonymous tables while playing on multiple poker sites. Using the hand count number, one can easily see if the anonymous "player 3" at your table is the same fish you have been sitting with for an hour, or if he was replaced by a possible shark while you were involved in an all-in situation on another table and were not paying attention! This has saved us countless buy-ins in the past – simply being aware of player seat changes in an anonymous environment.
Otherwise, we use the HUD for a few of the key stats and somewhat standard numbers such as:
- VPIP: Money Voluntarily Put in the Pot
- PFR: Pre-Flop Raise Percentage
- 3B%: Percentage of Hands 3-bet Preflop
These statistics mentioned above, while basic in nature, are the stats that converge quickly. This is important because one only needs a small sample size in order for reasonably reliable informational trends to emerge from the data. We recommend using these simple stats to more quickly profile anonymous opponents as possible fishy targets or, conversely, nitty regs who will have stronger hand values. This allows you to focus your mental energy on playing other hands and pitting yourself against the loose players rather than the tight ones who are unlikely to cough up any money or contribute highly to increasing your bb/100.
Poker Tracker 4, Holdem Manager 3 and Ignition Poker
By default, neither Poker Tracker 4 nor Hold'em Manager 2 used to support Ignition, Bodog, or Bovada online poker sites. However, in August 2018, PokerTracker deployed a free hand grabber that can be used with the tracking package to import Ignition hands. Unfortunately, this hand grabber isn't available for Macs, but it works fine on Windows machines.
There's now no longer any need to fiddle around with third-party programs to benefit from HUD and tracking features as long as you're running a version of Windows on your computer. Some users have reported success using the hand grabber with other PaiWangLuo Network sites, but your mileage may vary if you attempt to run it in conjunction with Bovada or Bodog.
Be aware that the PT4 hand grabber isn't recommended for use with Zone Poker. We advise you to download these fast-fold poker hand histories and then import them into PokerTracker 4 afterward because attempting to grab them in real time will mean that you'll be missing info from any Zone Poker hands where you folded before the hand was over.
If you're a Holdem Manager fan, limited functionality can be incorporated into play on these sites.It requires the use of a hand history converter. Only one company currently manufactures such a product, Ace Poker Solutions.
APS' answer is to convert Ignition hand histories into a more recognizable format (that of Pokerstars hand histories) and use the converted hands for database imports. This allows a player to save long-term player data on his or her own play. This is very useful for players who want accurate results for the sake of comparing their play on one site versus another, compiling statistics on the general tendencies of the anonymous player pool, and keeping proper track of sessions for the purposes of taxation.
Ace Poker Solutions has also created realtime hand history capture software that allows you to use the Holdem Manager 3 (HEM3) Heads Up Display (HUD) while playing.
Head over to APS today by clicking the button below for the type of software you're interested in acquiring:
Ignition Casino cash game with Poker Tracker 4 software running.