Which poker rooms allow a HUD?
Of the sixteen rooms on this site, four permit third-party HUDs and trackers: 888poker, Betsson Poker, RedStar Poker and NordicBet. Nine block them outright, and three have not confirmed a policy either way. Rooms that block HUDs are usually softer for exactly that reason, so this is a trade rather than a checklist.
The short list that allows them
888poker. Holdem Manager, PokerTracker, Hand2Note and DriveHUD are all permitted. 888 is one of the few large rooms that still allows your own software, and if your study process runs on your own database that is the main reason to consider it. The room holds a Maltese licence and its own loyalty scheme returns little, so it is a HUD-and-traffic pick rather than a rewards pick. 888poker page.
Betsson Poker. PokerTracker 4 and Holdem Manager 3 both work. Betsson sits on the iPoker network and has the widest mixed-game spread on this site. Betsson Poker page.
RedStar Poker. Holdem Manager, PokerTracker and Hand2Note all work with full HUD support. RedStar is on iPoker too, has a native macOS client, and charges a cashout fee on every withdrawal. RedStar Poker page.
NordicBet. A HUD works, with a catch. Cash tables are anonymous, so your software collects nothing that survives the session. Tournaments are normal and data is retained. If cash is your volume, treat NordicBet as a room where the HUD is a live aid rather than a database. NordicBet page.
The rooms that block them
Nine rooms on this site block third-party software outright: Unibet Poker, GGPoker, Natural8, QQPK Poker, CoinPoker, Bovada, BC Poker, Nexa Poker and Poker Planets.
Two of those ship an alternative. GGPoker and Natural8 run the GG client, which has a HUD and a hand history analyser built in. The rest give you nothing, and at Unibet the ban is enforced rather than discouraged.
Not confirmed
ACR Poker, Champion Poker and Lucky Bun have not confirmed a policy that I could verify against the room's own terms. Ask before you rely on it. I would rather say unknown than guess.
Why blocking a HUD makes a room softer
A HUD does two things for a regular. It shows you how each opponent plays, and over time it builds a database that lets you find the weak players and sit with them.
Take that away and recreational players cannot be identified or hunted. They lose more slowly, they come back, and the pool stays soft. Unibet does this most thoroughly, with screen names that change three times a day and no observing a table before you sit. Why Unibet Poker's games are so soft goes through the mechanism.
So the list above is a trade. The rooms that allow a HUD give you your tools and a harder pool. The rooms that block one take your tools and give you a softer pool. Which side of that you want depends on where your edge comes from.
Anonymous tables
Anonymity is a second route to the same place. NordicBet's cash tables and every table at Bovada replace names with seat labels, so even where software runs it collects nothing lasting. Anonymous poker tables covers what that costs a regular and who it suits.
If your game depends on your database
Pick from the four at the top, and pick 888poker if traffic matters to you. Everything else on this site will make you play without it.
This table mirrors the tracker policy recorded on each room's page and is checked against it at build time, so if a room changes its policy the page and this guide change together.
Common questions
- Does 888poker allow a HUD?
- Yes. Holdem Manager, PokerTracker, Hand2Note and DriveHUD are all permitted at 888poker, which puts it in a small group of large rooms that still allow your own software.
- Does GGPoker allow a HUD?
- No. All third-party software is blocked on GGNetwork, which covers GGPoker and Natural8. The client ships its own built-in HUD and hand history analyser instead.
- Does a HUD work on anonymous tables?
- Only within the session. At NordicBet, cash tables are anonymous, so a HUD can show you stats on the current table but nothing persists once it closes. Tournament play there is normal and data is retained.
- Why do rooms ban HUDs?
- To protect recreational players. When nobody can be tracked or profiled, weaker players cannot be found and targeted, so they lose more slowly and stay in the pool. The rooms that ban HUDs are usually softer because of it.
Rooms this applies to
888pokerThe loyalty scheme runs to thousands of levels and returns single digits at the lower ones. Traffic has trended down for several years and Hold'em carries what remains, so Omaha players will find the schedule thin.
RedStar PokerA cashout fee applies on every withdrawal, and fewer, larger cashouts work out better here. Rake at the micro stakes is high by network standards, so the value sits at mid stakes and up.
Betsson PokerThe client is an older generation than the newer rooms, and the schedule stays with smaller tournaments rather than large guarantees. It is closed to more than fifty countries, so check yours first.
NordicBetCash tables are anonymous, which keeps the games soft and means a HUD collects nothing that lasts past the session. There is no database to build here and no dedicated mobile app.