I have run both of these empirical poker calculator programs simultaneously while playing ring games and tournaments. While each has some merit as to being quality products, holdem pirate fairs better in some key specific categories such as getting a quick read on the table collective, an easy to read interface, and the simple odds display, and what could very well be one of the most misleading hand analysis features in a poker calculator.

While first running Poker-Spy, my initial inclination was favorable, but upon further use of the program, I found it wasnt very useful at giving an indication of the table as a whole. Given the stats the software is able to collect, I really cant see why this would be omitted. With Holdem Pirate, a unique indicator (called the VPIP meter) shows your table tempo almost immediately, while also collecting individual player stats as well. This is a very handy feature when just sitting down at a regular ring game as well, because if you wait the cycle, you are going to know whether you want to stay or not, based on your preferred table dynamics.

The VPIP meter is also in a graphical format much like your fuel gauge. It takes a glance to know what is going on, even if youve been on a coffee errand. With Poker-Spy, it is necessary to study the screen-wide spreadsheet-like data, for each player individually and then extrapolate that into your preferred data. Its not easy to do when others are waiting for you to act. In addition, the Poker-Spy odds display is virtually useless as it shows in another, separate window that pops under other windows on your screen, and its 70s like numeric display makes me want to just ignore it. I have seriously never found any use in the best opponent comparison either it is ALWAYS irrelevant. Holdem Pirates odds display isnt that great either, but it is simple and it is on the same screen.

Like most players, I play ring games and tournaments. If you know about Poker-Spy their big selling feature is a hand analysis tool. I was using it for sometime when I discovered that there were some odd hands with astronomical win rates like 10,9os and 5,7seven better than AA and AKs! I generally dont play these hands so I went to do some further research. It seems that I won a couple of tournaments and sit and gos and the final hand was some lame straight or 2 pair I backed into examples. Well those hands so skewed the analysis of my play, that the feature became absolutely useless. For example, if you are at a sit and go at party poker the winner will end up with 20,000 chips. If your last hand was won while holding Qc7d, that hand goes into Poker-Spy Hand Analysis and says it is a hand now profitable to you of $20,000! Meaning you should be playing it more and pushing! As much as the Poker-Spy can collect information, it needs to do a much better job in simplifying the data, and offering up valid recommendations.