A friend of mine got a trial version and, while he was amazed at the amount of information available to him, is still unsure if it is worth the investment. I suspect all serious on-line players use some kind of software of this nature. Why wouldn't they? Still I have my reservations.
On a purely emotional level, I think it takes some of the fun out of the game. Win or lose, I know I don't have anyone (or anything) else to credit or blame. Poker is an individual vs individual game, and the introduction of computer analysis just spoils it somehow. I know this is kind of petulant of me. And maybe it's dumb to "bring a knife to a gun fight". I suspect that poker software is really now just part of the game - if all players are using it, then it is still an individual vs individual game, just a much more complex one where your success is not only based on poker skills, but the ability to quickly interpret and apply raw data to a specific situation. A more complex game - but still a game. My dislike for the software might just be laziness on my part - I don't want to do the work of having to analyse statistics!
But I also worry about statistics misleading me. If I have a good read on a situation, the statistics might lead me to make a wrong decision. Of course this could easily, and more likely, go the other way - that the statistics would likely keep me from making bad decisions.
I just don't know.
I'm hoping those of you reading this post will leave comments offering advice.
