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At TwoRags.com, we're committed to providing accurate information to the
poker community. If you see entries or information that you believe to be in
error, please email us.
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Captain Cooks Poker Comprehensive Poker Site Review
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The Prima network of poker sites does not accept US players.
Captain Cooks Poker, a South Pacific-themed Prima network site, is a reliable choice for players more concerned with net win than features. Overall, think of the Prima network as the wooden ship of online poker--uncomfortable and nerve-wracking in a heavy storm but the perfect choice to bring home spoils from the New World. Compared to the other major sites, you'll find the software awkward at first, the graphics a little dated, and the features average, at best. In addition, there's rarely an overlay in the MTTs, and the SnGs have both a steep blind structure and a confusing array of buy-ins, level times and payouts. As for support, the online help is incomplete and the email help inconsistent in response and accuracy. In all honesty, the only time you'll love this site is when it's time to cash-out and therein lies the reason you play a Prima skin--the NL ring game and SnG play is as weak as any we've seen. Note: we reviewed two Prima skins (Royal Vegas, Captain Cook's); each has software modifications of note. Of the three, Captain Cook's has superior graphics (the South Pacific theme is very nice) and a bonus that's easier to clear than that of Royal Vegas. However, you're limited to 5 tables on the site vs. 10 on Royal Vegas. |
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| Note: traffic estimates are observed data circa Feb 06 unless otherwise noted |
| Ring Games
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# of players |
% of total |
| Limit |
400 |
18% |
| No limit (NL) |
1 600 |
73% |
| Other |
0 |
200 |
9% |
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full |
s/h |
| Table size |
10 |
6 |
| Approximate mix (%) |
30% |
70% |
| Activity - Limit |
tables |
players |
| 5c/10c |
17 |
62 |
| 10c/20c |
6 |
18 |
| 25c/50c |
19 |
73 |
| 50c/$1 |
19 |
74 |
| $1/$2 |
21 |
70 |
| $2/$4 |
15 |
41 |
| $3/$6 |
3 |
6 |
| $4/$8 |
2 |
0 |
| $5/$10 |
10 |
28 |
| $8/$16 |
1 |
0 |
| $10/$20 |
3 |
10 |
| $15/$30 |
2 |
0 |
| $20/$40 |
4 |
10 |
| $25/$50 |
1 |
0 |
| $50/$100 |
2 |
0 |
| $100/$200 |
2 |
0 |
| Activity - No Limit |
tables |
players |
| 5c/10c |
74 |
275 |
| 10c/20c |
71 |
290 |
| 25c/50c |
65 |
320 |
| 50c/$1 |
66 |
250 |
| $1/$2 |
55 |
200 |
| $1.50/$3 |
9 |
30 |
| $2/$4 |
23 |
104 |
| $2.50/$5 |
5 |
12 |
| $3/$6 |
4 |
10 |
| $4/$8 |
4 |
9 |
| $5/$10 |
15 |
58 |
| $8/$16 |
1 |
0 |
| $10/$20 |
7 |
24 |
| $15/$30 |
2 |
1 |
| $20/$40 |
2 |
1 |
| $25/$50 |
2 |
1 |
| $50/$100 |
3 |
2 |
| $100/$200 |
1 |
0 |
| Lobby view |
Flop % |
yes |
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| Avg pot |
yes |
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| Hands/Hr |
yes |
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| Real-time HH? |
yes |
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| HH stored on computer? |
yes |
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| Mucked hands in HH? |
no |
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| Player notes? |
yes |
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| Session stats at table? |
yes |
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| Tournaments |
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# of players |
| Multi-table tournaments (MTTs) |
2 000 |
| Big weekly MTT |
Add to Calendar |
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Buy-in |
$50 + $5 |
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| Entrants |
NA |
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| Prize pool |
$100,000 |
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| Overlay? |
no |
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| Day/time (EST) |
Sun 3:30 PM EST |
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| Big daily MTT |
Add to Calendar |
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Buy-in |
$100 + $10 |
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| Entrants |
109 (plus R&As;) |
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| Prize pool |
$20,000 |
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| Time (EST) |
2:30 PM EST |
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# of players |
| Sit n Gos (SnGs) |
1 000 |
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full |
s/h |
| Table size (SnGs) |
10 |
5, 6 |
| Approx mix (%) |
30% |
70% |
| Range of buy-ins |
75c to $1000 |
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| Time to seat |
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| 75c + 25c |
<2 min |
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| $2 + 50c |
<5 min |
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| $2 + 20c |
<5 min |
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| $5 + 50c |
<10 min |
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| $10 + $1 |
10+ min |
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| $20 + $2 |
10+ min |
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| $30 + $3 |
10+ min |
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| $40 + $4 |
10+ min |
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| $50 + $5 |
10+ min |
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| $100 + $10 |
10+ min |
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| $100 + $9 |
10+ min |
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| $1000 + $100 |
10+ min |
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| $1000 + $50 |
10+ min |
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| Blinds increase every? |
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Regular |
10-12 hands |
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| Turbo |
2, 4 or 6 hands |
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| Other |
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| Link to blind structure page |
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Link |
| Hourly NL tournaments? |
yes |
$1 to $100
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| WPT/WSOP satellites? |
yes |
| Tournament listing |
Link
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| Max tables at once (ring) |
5 |
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| Max tables at once (tournaments) |
5 |
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| Ring game play clears bonus? |
yes |
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| To clear the bonus, you must play 10x the bonus amount in raked hands. The current definition of a raked hand is: "when a player is dealt cards in a hand and the pot is raked a minimum of 25c." You can track your raked hand progress by logging in to the poker room or Poker Rewards and selecting MENU - Raked Hands.
Once you have met your raked hand requirement the bonus will be credited to your Poker Rewards account within two hours.
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| Tournament play clears bonus? |
no |
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| Miscellaneous |
Match |
Max |
| Deposit bonus |
50% |
$200 |
| Reload bonus (NA) |
NA |
NA |
| Minimum deposit (NETeller) |
$50 |
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| Minimum cashout |
$50 |
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| Customer support |
NETeller cashout |
12 hours |
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Response to email |
1 day |
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| Accurancy of responses |
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| Endorsed by |
Affiliated Sites |
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- The competition in the NL cash games and SnGs is weak
- The Quick Start/Search feature takes you directly to games or SnGs meeting your criteria; the Captain would've loved this!
- The old world table graphics (red leather seats, antique rugs) make you feel rich
- There are lots of 5 and 6-handed SnGs that pay 2-3 places (40-50% payouts)
- You can pull up your raked hands status real-time (by day, week, month)
- Prima hand histories are supported by PokerTracker (with a free add-on) |
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- Many MTTs are rebuy and add-on tournaments; we're explorers, not drunken sailors
- The MTT lobby doesn't include relevant tournament info until it starts
- You can't tell the details of SnGs (level times, payout, etc.) before trying to sit down
- The SnG blind structure doubles with each level; that's as steep as we've seen
- Session stats don't include number of hands
- The help feature is hard to navigate and incomplete in areas
- Email support was inconsistent |
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Why you should play the site
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- If you're halfway decent, you'll pull dough from the cash games
- If you're halfway awake, you'll money in the SnGs, even with the steep blind structure
- There's a $1000 daily freeroll for anyone who's played 100 raked hands in the prior 24 hours
- The daily freerolls are pretty sloppy; 500 entrants…done in <4 hrs |
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- 75% of cash ring games are NL games; many have flop %s of 40%+
- The quality of play seemed equal to or worse than that we've seen elsewhere
- CaptainCooks only allows 5-table multi-tabling but offers a better bonus than Royal Vegas
- PokerTracker supports Prima network hand histories |
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For the tournament player
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- Daily $1000 freerolls for any player with 100 raked hands in the prior 24 hr period
- A good selection of MTTs with reasonable buy-ins and manageable fields
- Tournament entry fees don't count toward bonus clearing
- The guaranteed tournaments draw enough entrants to cover the prize pool; no overlays
- The SnG blind structure doubles at each level; it's pretty steep
- The SnG blind levels and payouts aren't posted anywhere and vary even within buy-in amounts; you can't tell the level times (10, 12 or 15 hands for regular tourneys) until you select and view the table or the payouts (2 or 3 places) until you take a seat
- The Turbo (6 hand levels), Super Turbo (4 hands) and Extreme Turbo (2 hands) SnGs are push-fests; they're more lottery than poker
- That said, if you adjust for the blind structure, you can beat these SnGs |
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- The bonus is easier to clear on Captain Cooks than on Royal Vegas. On Royal Vegas you'll need to deposit $250 and play 3,500 hands to clear $100; on Captain Cooks, you'll need to deposit $200 and play 1,000 hands
- Every month, the top 1500 point earners on the site share in a $40k bonus pool |
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- If you're used to SnGs on Party or Stars, you'll need to adjust to the blinds; they double at each level
- If you play SnGs, check them carefully when you sit down; the blind levels and payouts can vary
- If you're going to join a Prima skin, we recommend Captain Cooks; the software is the same with improved lobby and table graphics and a much more favorable sign-up bonus than Royal Vegas |
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| Activity - Limit |
Avg # of tables |
Avg # of players |
Comments |
| 5c/10c |
17 |
62 |
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| 10c/20c |
6 |
18 |
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| 25c/50c |
19 |
73 |
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| 50c/$1 |
19 |
74 |
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| $1/$2 |
21 |
70 |
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| $2/$4 |
15 |
41 |
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| $3/$6 |
3 |
6 |
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| $4/$8 |
2 |
0 |
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| $5/$10 |
10 |
28 |
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| $8/$16 |
1 |
0 |
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| $10/$20 |
3 |
10 |
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| $15/$30 |
2 |
0 |
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| $20/$40 |
4 |
10 |
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| $25/$50 |
1 |
0 |
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| $50/$100 |
2 |
0 |
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| $100/$200 |
2 |
0 |
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| Activity - NL |
Avg # of tables |
Avg # of players |
Comments |
| 5c/10c |
74 |
275 |
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| 10c/20c |
71 |
290 |
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| 25c/50c |
65 |
320 |
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| 50c/$1 |
66 |
250 |
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| $1/$2 |
55 |
200 |
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| $1.50/$3 |
9 |
30 |
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| $2/$4 |
23 |
104 |
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| $2.50/$5 |
5 |
12 |
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| $3/$6 |
4 |
10 |
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| $4/$8 |
4 |
9 |
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| $5/$10 |
15 |
58 |
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| $8/$16 |
1 |
0 |
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| $10/$20 |
7 |
24 |
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| $15/$30 |
2 |
1 |
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| $20/$40 |
2 |
1 |
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| $25/$50 |
2 |
1 |
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| $50/$100 |
3 |
2 |
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| $100/$200 |
1 |
0 |
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| Link to our complete compilation of action by size of game |
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| Big daily MTT |
Add to Calendar |
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Buy-in |
$100 + $10 |
| Entrants |
109 (plus R&As;) |
| Prize pool |
$20,000 |
| Time (EST) |
14:30 |
| Big weekly MTT |
Add to Calendar |
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Buy-in |
$50 + $5 |
| Entrants |
NA |
| Prize pool |
$100,000 |
| Day/Time (EST) |
Sun/15:30 |
| Hourly NL tournaments? |
yes |
$1 to $100
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Sit n Gos (active tables)
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| Game |
Avg # of tables |
Time to seat |
Comments |
| 75c + 25c |
32 |
<2 min |
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| $2 + 50c |
23 |
<5 min |
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| $2 + 20c |
21 |
<5 min |
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| $5 + 50c |
86 |
<10 min |
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| $10 + $1 |
60 |
10+ min |
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| $20 + $2 |
44 |
10+ min |
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| $30 + $3 |
3 |
10+ min |
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| $40 + $4 |
0 |
10+ min |
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| $50 + $5 |
20 |
10+ min |
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| $100 + $10 |
4 |
10+ min |
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| $100 + $9 |
5 |
10+ min |
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| $1000 + $100 |
1 |
10+ min |
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| $1000 + $50 |
4 |
10+ min |
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| Link to blind structure |
Link to site's tournament listing |
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| If you're new to Captain Cooks (or any Prima site), you'll find the lobby design is great for ring game players; it offers comprehensive table info (flop %s, etc.), and there's a QuickStart/Search feature that will take you immediately to a table meeting a specified criteria. Unfortunately, if you're a tournament player, the lobby doesn't offer the same level of detail--blind structures, level times, etc. aren't visible from the lobbies of MTTs and SnGs until they start. We do like the search for player feature (note: there's no way to opt to hide from player searches), the fact that your raked hands (for the day, week and month) are shown in the lobby window and the ability to set up private tables. At the table, the action is easy to follow; we would, though, like an option to see bet amounts--they're visible by positioning the cursor over the bet or by viewing the chat/recap window. We didn't like the placement of the betting buttons on Royal Vegas (the fold and raise buttons positioning is the reverse of that found on other sites), but they're fine on Captain Cooks. You'll need to get used to the bet slider in NL games (it's a little touchy), but the raise button is a RAISE TO button. On a positive note, the software operates quickly, forcing faster action and more hands/hour than at other sites. Also, there are options to change the table size; we found the mini-view easy-to-use and effective for multi-tabling and the large table view (the chat/recap window is added to the right of the table) makes recapping action easy. Specific to SnGs, the hands left at a particular blind level are posted at the top of the table; we like that. Cards show on all-ins for both tournament and ring games. |
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| The hand history functions PlayCheck (request a HH) and GameHistory (export to a file) are a little primitive; they take a while to retrieve and aren't particularly easy to follow. Note: Prima network software saves HHs locally and is supported by PokerTracker so these short-comings are manageable. Mucked hands are not shown in the HHs. |
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| Players |
yes |
| Avg pot |
yes |
| Flop% |
yes |
| Wait list |
yes |
| Hands/hr |
yes |
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| Session stats |
yes |
| Player notes |
yes |
| Bet amounts |
no |
| Pot amounts |
yes |
| Max tables (ring) |
5 |
| Max tables (trnys) |
5 |
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| Choose own image |
no |
| Visible profile |
yes |
| Player search |
yes |
| Transfer money to player |
no |
| Private tables |
yes |
| Private trnys |
yes |
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| Date |
User |
Click below for review or trip report |
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If you play this site we would love to hear your experiences.
Please click here.
You can also enter a trip report to share a story about a poker session at this site.
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