Holdem Manager is an essential tool for all online poker players in the modern game. It is a fully featured statistical analysis package for online poker and can give you a serious edge over the competition when it’s up and running, and configured correctly. Because of its complexity, the setup process for Holdem Manager is quite long and features many steps.
Setting Up Holdem Manager
The first step is to download the installer from the Holdem Manager site (www.holdemmanager.com). Make sure to choose the first time installer and not the updater. When the file is downloaded, close all of your open programs and click on the “holdem_manager_setup.exe” file to start the installation.
You’ll be prompted a number of times by the installer about various installation options; just go with the default setting in each case. It will take quite some time to install PostgreSQL.
While Holdem Manager is installing, check if the hand histories from your poker client are being stored locally on your PC and to what folder they are being saved. There is usually an option in the lobby of the poker client to save your hand histories as you play. If you can’t find it, contact the customer support for your poker client and they will be able to tell you how do it.
Importing Your Hand Histories
When the program has finished installing, we need to set it up to store and analyze the hands you have played and recognize you as the ‘hero’ in its reports.
After you start the program and enter your registration code (or bypass it if you are using the free trial), click on the ‘click here to add auto import folders’ link. In the popup, click ‘Add Folder’, and then ‘Select’ and navigate to the folder where your hand histories are being stored and press ‘Save’. When you return to the main screen, press ‘Start Auto Import’ and Holdem Manager will import any hands you play to its database.
Setting Up Your Screen Names
Next you need to know how set up Holdem Manager to recognize your poker screen name. Click the ‘Report’ button in the sidebar (either the Cash Games or Tourney section, depending on which you want to display data for). Now near the top of the screen in the centre is a button labelled ‘Change’. Click this and search for your screen name and press ‘Select’. Note you’ll only be able to do this after you’ve played a few hands. After you’ve done this, your stats will show up in the Reports window and you’ll be able to track your winnings using the graph option in the sidebar.
Lastly, if you play on multiple sites but want to display all of your stats on one report you need to set up a player alias. To do this, select ’Options -> Player Aliases’ at the top of the screen. Click ‘Add Alias’ and give it a name. What you call it is not important. When you’ve set up the alias, click ‘Add Player’ in the bottom window of the popup and find your screen name. Do this for all of the sites you play on.
After you’ve done this, go back to the main Holdem Manager reports page and click the ‘Change’ button again. Now search for the name of the alias you just created and click select. All of the sidebar options will now display cumulative results for all of the screen names tied to the alias you just created.
When you have completed all of these steps, your copy of Holdem Manager should be up-and-running, and recording and analyzing all of your hand histories. If you run into any problems with the installation, there is a detailed FAQ and support service on the Holdem Manager website.
