What is a tracker?
How rooms generate your hand files, and what a tracker does with them.
Gandalf
Co-founder of Poker Sciences
Before talking about the tracker itself, it's important to understand where the data comes from. When you play online poker, the room records every hand in a text file on your computer. That's the starting point for all analysis.
1. Hand history files
For every hand played, the room writes a text file containing everything that happened: the seated players, dealt cards, every action (fold, call, raise, all-in), amounts, board, and final result.
Here's for example what a full hand recorded by GG Poker looks like:
File header Poker Hand #SG3318570581 Tournament #244159797 Spin&Gold Hold'em No Limit Level1 (10/20) - 2025/11/17 14:48:57 Table '90112' 3-max Seat #3 is the button
Players and blinds Seat 1: 221e82de (270 in chips) Seat 2: d26616aa (360 in chips) Seat 3: Hero (270 in chips) 221e82de: posts small blind 10 d26616aa: posts big blind 20
Preflop Dealt to 221e82de Dealt to d26616aa Dealt to Hero [Th Kd] Hero: raises 20 to 40 221e82de: folds d26616aa: calls 20
Flop [2d 9h 8h] d26616aa: checks Hero: bets 45 d26616aa: folds
Result Total pot 90 | Rake 0 Board [2d 9h 8h] Seat 1: 221e82de (small blind) folded before Flop Seat 2: d26616aa (big blind) folded on the Flop Seat 3: Hero (button) won (90)
Example of a hand history file on GG Poker
It's plain text, readable but not really usable as-is. The tracker's job is then to analyze all of it.
The exact file format changes depending on the room: Winamax, PokerStars and GG Poker write structured text, iPoker uses XML, and Betclic has its own format.
On most rooms, these files are written automatically to a folder on your computer while you play. On some rooms (like Betclic), you need to export them manually from the software.
In general, there is one file per Spin and inside each file one entry per hand.
But on many rooms, there can sometimes be two files instead of just one: hand history files (the detail of every hand) and summary files (the tournament summary with buy-in, finishing position, and winnings). The tracker needs both of these files to reconstruct the full picture.
2. What the tracker does with them
The tracker reads these files, extracts all the information, and organizes it into structured tables within a database on your computer. For example, here's what the tournaments table looks like (simplified):
| Tournament | Room | Buy-in | Multi | Place | Profit | CEV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #244159797 | GG Poker | $93 | x3 | 2nd | -$100 | +12 |
| #244159869 | GG Poker | $93 | x2 | 1st | +$86 | +45 |
| #244161474 | GG Poker | $93 | x4 | 3rd | -$100 | -8 |
And the hands table looks like this:
| Hand | Tournament | Position | Cards | Action | Pot | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | #244159797 | BTN | Ad 3s | Fold preflop | 20 | 0 |
| #2 | #244159797 | BB | Kd 8c | Fold vs shove | 40 | -20 |
| #3 | #244159797 | SB | Qh Js | Call → Showdown | 600 | +280 |
The two tables above are what's called unit tables: the tracker adds a row for each imported hand or tournament. These are the base data, the raw history. They only grow with each import.
But the tracker also builds aggregated tables: tables that summarize the unit data into actionable metrics. For example, a table that automatically calculates your daily stats:
| Date | Tournaments | Total buy-in | Profit | CEV | ITM % | Time played |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11/17/2025 | 48 | $4,800 | +$320 | +892 | 38% | 1h42 |
| 11/18/2025 | 62 | $6,200 | -$180 | +410 | 31% | 2h15 |
| 11/19/2025 | 35 | $3,500 | +$95 | +605 | 40% | 1h10 |
The difference matters: unit tables only grow (rows are added), while aggregated tables are entirely rebuilt with each import from the unit data.
This is why it's difficult to "delete a few hands" from a database. Unit tables are simple to modify, but aggregated tables must be entirely recalculated. This is a constraint all trackers share.
Small practical note: the database is not stored in the same location as the application. This means uninstalling the tracker won't delete your data.
For Poker Spin Tracker, the database is located here:
- Mac:
~/Library/Application Support/Poker Spin Tracker/pgdata/ - Windows:
C:\Users\<your name>\AppData\Roaming\Poker Spin Tracker\pgdata\
Each tracker has its own organization. No two trackers will have exactly the same tables, calculations, or metrics.
3. Keep it simple, not complex
If you've heard of PokerTracker 4 or Hand2Note, you know these tools can be intimidating. They are designed to allow total customization, which results in menus and an interface that are very complex to get used to.
If you don't know what you're looking for or what's relevant, it's impossible to find the information that matters.
And even for experienced players, it takes hours of configuration to get what you want.
The goal with Poker Spin Tracker was to build a tracker that is very powerful but also very simple. You open the tracker, import, and immediately get the useful information.
Poker Spin Tracker is built exclusively for Spins (Spin & Go, Expresso, ...). This specialization simplifies everything: no configuration for player count, no complex filters. Every screen is designed to provide the information needed, when it's needed.
Poker Spin Tracker only handles Spins. If an import contains regular tournaments or cash games, they won't be processed.
4. Tracker ≠ Preflop/Postflop Packs
This is slightly off-topic, but since we're explaining how a tracker works, it's worth clarifying. We're often asked this question on Discord: what's the difference between Poker Spin Tracker and the Preflop/Postflop Packs we offer on the site?
The tracker analyzes played hands: it looks at what was done.
The Preflop and Postflop Packs provide reference ranges, Strategy Guides, a Trainer, etc.: they teach "what should be done."
These are two separate things, but they complement each other.
Key takeaways
• Rooms write text files for every hand played. Some do it automatically, others require a manual export
• The tracker organizes this data into a database with unit tables (one row per hand/tournament) and aggregated tables (stats recalculated with each import)
• This database is stored separately from the application: uninstalling the tracker won't delete your data
• Poker Spin Tracker is a tracker specialized in Spins, designed to be simple and immediately readable
