Poker Crusher Features
- Quick overview of opponents' playing styles
- Huge database of more than 3,500,000 players
- Database being updated every 5 minutes
- Analysis of your own game, finding weak spots
- Icons for a quicker check of various player types
- Data being collected from more than 100 poker rooms
- Listing of Cash Games sorted by toughness of players
- Direct access to a table from the software
- Numerous filter options
Who Will Find Poker Crusher Useful?
- Especially all Cash Game players
- Also interesting for tournament players
- Useful for players of all levels
Installing Poker Crusher
For our tests we installed the software on a Windows XP, Windows Vista and a Windows 7 computer and had no troubles whatsoever. The installation process itself seemed to be a bit redundant (and thus unnecessarily long-winded) at some point. First you download the executable Poker Crusher install file which comes at a bit over 12MB. When double clicking the installation process starts during which another file of approximately 24MB will be downloaded and executed automatically. Don't let the seeming stand-still during the early installation process fool you - the files are being decompressed in the background. After that initial hold-up the installation will proceed very quickly.
The installation is now complete - in theory. In our case however we were informed right after the successful installation that there is an update available. The download and installation of that 24MB update was quick and painless and only needed one more confirmation. However we felt that it should be no problem to download the newest and most up-to-date file for the installation to begin with.
While the installation process was very smooth on all 3 tested systems we still were left feeling that we could have done without that extra step of updating the freshly installed software. In the end however this is just a miniscule bother and what's more, you will only have to endure it once anyway.
Using Poker Crusher
Poker Crusher is a software that allows you access to statistics of over 3,500,000 online poker players at more than 100 online poker rooms. While the sheer abundance of information can be a bit daunting and hard to take in at the beginning, you will be able to use the programme to its full effect in no time at all. Let's take a detailed step-by-step look at it.
If you prefer you may use Poker Crusher as a Trial Version for a few days. There will be only a few restrictions, nothing worth noting. If you have purchased this product you can log in with your Poker Crusher login credentials. After that you will have the option to choose between the Beginner Mode or the Advanced Mode. Don't worry, you can always change that inside the programme. For our tests we went with the Advanced Mode.
Now you can choose the poker room of your liking - the poker room software will now be launched together with Poker Crusher. It is suggested that there is no poker room software running when starting Poker Crusher (although we had on one occasion and it worked nonetheless). The software of the chosen poker room will now start at the same time as Poker Crusher as long as you actually have the poker room's client installed on your machine. Also make sure it is up to date. For our testing purposes we chose Party Poker.
So when we start Poker Crusher we can see that the Party Poker software is being auto-launched. Make sure to check whether your log in procedure in any given poker room is fully automated or whether you have to confirm or enter your log in data first. Poker Crusher of course has no access to your log in infos so you will have to take care of that. In order to make use of its full potential you should definitely make sure you are successfully signed in at the poker room. In our case we confirmed our log in details at Party Poker and proceeded.
Admittedly the basic and primary feature of Poker Crusher doesn't need you to be logged in at any poker room at all. The main purpose of the programme is equally useful for Cash Game, SNG or tournament players - it is basically a huge database of millions of players. You can look up any player you want by using their nicknames in the respective poker networks and you will be presented with a lot of information. Since this is indeed the stuff that this whole software is built around we shall now take a closer look at it.
After starting up Poker Crusher you will notice that 4 separate windows will open on your screen. They are called Main, Buddy List, Lookup and Lobby Crusher Table Finder. Let's first take a look at the basic functions and start with the main window.
Main - the Inconspicuous Control Centre
Poker Crusher Main
The main window offers a lot of information about more than 3.5 million online poker players. Indeed the information is so detailed that is is easy to find yourself overwhelmed by the amounts of stats thrown at you at the same time. Once you will take the time to understand the information you will however quickly come to grips with it and be able to digest everything you need.
First we can choose whether we want to have Cash Game or tournament stats of our object of desire. The Advanced Mode will now allow you to specify more filtering conditions, all of them self-explaining.
Underneath those filters you will be able to enter the nick of any player. Additionally you will be able to choose the desired poker network or the poker room. Why can't you get the data of a given player from all the networks at the same time? There is a simple reason: While someone may be called TestPerson at Party Poker he may find that this nick has already been taken by someone else at bwin Poker. Thus TestPerson isn't necessarily the same player in different poker networks and the data would be pretty much useless when you mix two or more different players.
Direcly below that you have the option to enter anything you wish in your personal notes. Noticed any specific behaviour pattern of a certain player? Note them down here. Be it that you realised this player has the tendency of going tilt, doesn't cope well with pressure, keeps making certain mistakes, is easily provoked, goes All-in once he is inside the money in a tournament, calls every time he sits at the Small Blind regardless of his hand,... Basically anything you notice is worthwhile being written down here in order to help you with possible encounters in the future.
Below this box you can now have a look at the statistics of the chosen player. The cold hard facts. And so many of them. We strongly recommend to take the time reading the manual and learning the abbreviations and the meanings of certain stats. It definitely pays dividends to be able to read and understand all the necessary info quickly. Especially if you are at the same table with a certain player and it is your time to make a decision. Don't let all the numbers overwhelm you - once you manage to digest the statistics you will have plenty of information at your hand that makes it easier to do the right thing at the right time.
Buddy List - Quick Infos
Poker Crusher Buddy List
You have the option of adding players to your buddy list - doing so will help you finding your favourite opponents faster and easier. You will be able to see at a glance whether people in your Buddy List are online or offline. You will also be able to see at which tables they are currently playing.
Clicking on a player's name will automatically fill in the needed data in the main window and display all the stats available for that player. By clicking on a table that the player is seated at you will activate that table in your Lobby Crusher Table Finder window where you will be able to see more details.
Lobby Crusher Table Finder - Overview, Rating and Insight
The Lobby Crusher Table Finder window lists all Cash Games of any of the 100+ poker rooms supported by Poker Crusher. You can filter the tables by choosing the amount of players and the stakes of your preference. The tables will be listed and rated depending on the statistical level of difficulty. You may sort them by a number of categories after your own preference.
The more stars there are next to a table, the more profitable it could be for you. Before you decide which table to play at you may however wish to take a closer look at it. Have a look at the details by clicking on the + symbol to the left of any table.
Poker Crusher Table Finder
You will now see a list of the players at the table. To the right of each player is an icon. These player icons are a valuable quick assessment of the type of player (basically all the stats distilled into one icon) and will give you a first clue. Is this player considered a Fish? A Maniac? There are various icons and colour coding that help you determine what the stats generally say about a certain player in an instant. Additionally to these icons you will of course have more detailed stats and numbers displayed further to the right.
So we have started Party Poker together with Poker Crusher and already confirmed our log in data with the Party Poker software. Now we are in the lobby of Party Poker and have Poker Cruncher running as well. Now it's time for one of the handy bonus features of Poker Crusher. Let's say we want to scan the Cash Game tables at Party Poker for easy prey. First we decide which poker variant and which limits we want to play. We decided for No Limit Texas Hold'em with blinds of $1/$2. First of all we choose these things in the lobby of Party Poker (you can either choose $1/$2 as limits or - we suggest - simply choose All). Now all the rooms that qualify are listed in our lobby. Now we switch to Poker Crusher, to be more precise to the Lobby Crusher Table Finder window.
Make sure to have the correct poker room or poker network checked in your filters (in our case Party). You can decide to choose several at the same time but for now we simply take the Party Poker network. Next we can choose the preferred amount of players and the stakes (make sure to choose the same stakes as in the Party Poker lobby before, in our case $1/$2). Then check your preferred playing structure (in our case No Limit). When you click on the Search button you will see a list of all available rooms that meet your criteria.
From this list we can pick the room(s) of our choice. Whether you want to focus on the overall strength of opponents at a table or wish to go for the 2 fishes on another table is completely up to you. Take a look at the icons and stats and if you feel you have found a suiting table simply double-click on it and Poker Crusher will automatically take you to the table of your choice. However we found out that this doesn't work for all poker networks - for example if you play at Titan Poker and thus use the iPoker network you will have to manually join the table by looking it up by its name. While this is no biggie we did enjoy the comfort of double-clicking our way right into the action.
Once you are seated at your table - be it automatically or manually - this table will automatically be listed and recorded in the Lookup window.
Lookup - Your Live Statistics Central
Poker Crusher Lookup
Now that you are at the table of your choice you will notice that it will also appear automatically in your small Lookup window. Underneath the name of the table you will see the list of players currently seated (including icons and colour coding). We do recommend activating the Summaries option as it will keep track of the overall stats at the table while you have that table open.
You don't have to be seated and active in order for the table to be tracked live. You may for example opt to watch the table first and form your own opinion on various players while Poker Crusher keeps track of the dry stats in the meantime. Or you may also do something completely different and check the summary later on when you are ready to join. The Lookup window even allows you to keep track of several tables at the same time which is especially useful for multi-tablers.
We found this window to be particularly helpful if you want to quickly assess the tendencies of a table. We all know that dynamics can swing pretty quickly, even more so in a Cash Game where players come and go as they please.
Just as with the Buddy List you are able to click on any name at any time and will receive the info for that player in the Poker Crusher main window in a heartbeat. That means within seconds you have all the statistical background of that player and can evaluate him before even having played a single hand against him.
Heads Up Display - Your HUD at the Poker Table
Additionally to the 4 mentioned Poker Crusher windows that we described in detail above you will notice a Heads Up Display (HUD) overlay at our $1/$2 poker table itself. We are there as a spectator and our Lookup window is keeping track of each hand. And we will also see short and compact info boxes next to each player's nickname at the table.
The info displayed there is - as mentioned - compact and thus only able to show us that much. But it is a very helpful tool indeed when decision time comes and we are not sure. Do we have an aggressive player here? Does our right-hand neighbour like to bluff? Of course we also have the icons there as well next to the stats.
Conclusion
All in all the Poker Crusher is a very powerful tool that is especially helpful for Cash Game players. We assume that it is most useful for poker players who want to play seriously and try to improve their game by learning to judge other players and their reactions to certain actions. If you can be ahead of the competition by one step and correctly assess their decisions beforehand, you will play winning poker.
For the casual poker player this programme can indeed be interesting but we believe that overall it wouldn't be worth the money. Unless you play for money on a regular basis it is probably not worth investing it into programmes with a depth level of Poker Crusher.
Poker Crusher is compatible with a multitude of online poker rooms - however there are some networks or rooms that have a limited implementation. For example with several poker rooms you will have to join a table manually instead of the comfortable double-clicking method. It is a bit annoying when you have enjoyed the comfort of easy joining but overall we found this only to be a small nuisance and basically considered the double-clicking method a welcome bonus.
When we tested Poker Crusher we came across a few error messages every now and then - however when we chose to ignore them the programme kept working nicely without any hint of an error. We expect this to be fixed in a later version. Things like this are also more likely to happen in a programme that keeps getting updated nearly every single week so we didn't let it bother us. It hardly affected our experience with this software,
We do recommend taking the time to go through the tutorial and become acquainted with the abbreviations, colour coding and icons. Once you have the basic knowledge needed to read all the data you will find that Poker Crusher indeed offers an abundance of useful information that you will hardly find anywhere else - and all within seconds. You will also start to notice how this information can affect your decisions for the better.
