Holdem manager 3 is finally out after long beta testing. Most online poker pros use either Holdem Manager or Poker tracker so this is a really big news. What are new possibilities? Is software more stable and faster then hm2 ? Are there more advanced filters for hand analysis ? Are there many new stats so we do not need to use Note Caddy anymore ? I will try to answer all these questions and give you my honest opinion about Holdem manager 3.

Holdem manager 3 first impression

Installation is very fast smooth and there were no problems. Holdem manager 3 does not use postgresql database anymore which is great. Holdem manager 2 used to have problems with database. Sometimes it won’t load sometimes it is very slow etc. Implementing new database exclusively for hm3 seems like a great idea. Loading time is also faster and smoother. Unfortunately there is still same bug like in hm2 when sometimes loading freezes on the popup screen so you have to use ctrl+alt+del to turn it off and start again.

Design of the manager is brand new. There is no start screen like in holdem manager 2 where we import hands or work with database. Here we are going straight into the action with all reports and filters. I like new color scheme it looks fresh and clear. Tabs are not on the top of the screen like before which seems like unnecessary change. Now space in the middle for resultrs, graphs and other things is shorter for the size of the menu on the left. Space where tabs used to be is now used only for player name and < > refresh buttons. Ok  I get the idea they want to make it similar to internet browsers for some reason maybe to make it more intuitive for new users. I still think the space usage in hm2 is much better

Table HUD

So obviously this is a most important part of the software. How the HUD looks on the table and how powerful is it working. Default presets are great. There are many more detailed HUDS to chose from, made for professional usage. I don’t like the change in the pop up color scheme. It moved from black/yellow to black/gray and I also think this is unnecessary change. Ok I know we all waited a long time for this new version but if something is not broken do not fix it. It worked great in black/yellow style it was fast clear and slick. Now I need more time to find needed stats but ok maybe that is just part of adaptation.

Here comes first big bug which single single-handedly turns this into beta testing phase and not a finished product. When you hover your mouse over a stat that should trigger the pop up NOTHING HAPPENS. So you have to click on the stat to trigger the pop up. That is a huge waste of time and focus for a serious player playing 10 tables few hours a day with few pop ups he uses all the time. Ok so at first I was ok they wanted to make a change sure no problem I will just find option to enable it as I am used to in hm2 but there is no option. I contacted support and they just responded sorry it is not available it will not be impleneted until January 2021 ?

Hm2 HUD import

Ok we will have to wait for that one lets try to set all other things up. As many other pro players I have my personal HUD set up in great details and made for my needs and style of play. I would like to use same settings in new software version of course. First thing I need to import all my hands and data. That is implemented and works great. You can use few different options to import hands even directly from hm2.It seems faster than before. Cool great work guys. Now I should import my HUD with all the popups. Ok 3 clicks boom it all works.But it all looks little different. Ok I enter the set up. It is totally redesigned but it is very intuitive and easy to use. Nice change. I made few edits now my HUD looks great again.

Holdem manager 3 Popups

Now I enter the pop ups. Ok… This is a total disaster. It looks totally different. All columns,rows are fucked up. Nothing is in the same place. I enter the set up again to fix it since I am very familiar with building and changing the HUDS but there are NO SETTINGS. No size parameters for rows and columns ? What the actual fuck ? That is something we had 10 years ago but now you remove this super basic setting for no reason ? I thought I was just stupid and could not figure it out myself so I contacted support one more time here is the response.

So new holdem manager 3 have less functionality then 10 years old holdem manager 2 ? Sounds terrible to be perfectly honest. Cells in the popups does not have dimensions ? They are dynamic so they change according to the content ? Ok fine add that as option if someone want to use it or even make it a default but option to make it classic is mandatory. I am an advanced user I know to make HUDS and pop ups most of the players don’t. They just know to use them not to make them. They buy good HUD or pay someone to make one for them with their specific needs in mind. So if company change the way cells and pop ups work it will not only make holdem manager 2 preset not working. It will also make some of them unable to recreate at all !!!

Holdem manager 3 stats

Ok so after this big stress with popups lets see is there something new and interesting about holdem manager 3 stats. So first thing there are a lot of new stats implemented. I did not miss any stats in hm2 because i use Note Caddy. If some stat I need does not exist I can just make it with Note Caddy. But on the other side not everyone are used to using NC so adding more stats that are often used and not offered in hm2 seems like a good idea.

One I immediately used insted of my NC stat is BTN-resteal. Very cool. This on is brand new one. Before there was only BTN 3b so how much player is using 3b strategy against utg, mp and co. If you wanted to use specific button 3b against cut off you had to make stat using note caddy. Now it is predefined and you can use it directly for manager without NC.

On the other hand there are still many stats missing. One I was hoping to find is small blind fold to button 4b. This is a very common situation. Button steals than small blind resteals now button can resteal back so knowing how often it will work is valuable information. For this situation there is still no specific stat so without note caddy closest one you can use is resteal-fold from small blind(also a new one). So this stat is still not showing exactly how much will sb fold against btn 4b but intestead how much will sb fold against combined 4b from btn and co. Cool close enough.

Some nice words

Ok this is a first big plus for holdem manager 3. Now you can pick position for ALL STATS. Totally new concept. Great idea. So for example if you need button fold to steal you can just find stat fold to steal and pick position button.
Second big plus is software Note Caddy that I already mentioned. Now you don’t have to buy it you can just add it in 2 clicks FOR FREE. Super cool. It even works better than in hm2. It is faster. Much faster when adding and changing stat definitions. Great.

Holdem manager 3 in action

So first thing there is a huuuuge bug. Everytime you start holdem manager player huds MOVE ? Why ? So if you put it at the place you wanted them to be next time you open the software they are rearanged to default positions and you have to position them again.  Same things happen on replayer and in game. They also change positon every time you edit HUD settings. WTF?

Rearranging player huds on the table is not done with right mouse click anymore. Now they changed it to ctrl+click ? Why ? So this is not innovation. Something new or interesting. This is just plain stupid. Absolutely ridiculous change.

Beside that feel in play is great everything works smooth and fast. They removed some of the bugs from previous version when stats are not showing in reports so you have to reintroduce them. So all reports work fine. Color scheme is also fine. There is also a small bug since all money numbers are shown in green ( in hm2 and in hm3 also) only rake is not shown in green but rather in same color like other stats. Not a big deal but they can surely fix it. I would still like possibility to change skin or color scheme but for no there is no such option.

Some stats have a number in brackets (showing how many times this situation occurred) or at least they used to have it in hm2. Now there is no number, in order to find it I have to position mouse on specific stat. And also there is no way to change it back. There is new option to add fraction 1/10 next to 10% but no option for only number of instances like it used to be. Again very  bad innovation.

Final thoughts

Ok guys so holdem manager 3 have some great new ideas, some nice improvements and a whole lot of bugs and problems. New nice and slick design cool, new stats cool, free Note Caddy cool, faster loading and some bugs removed cool. On the other hand no mouse hover popups, totally fucked up popups, bad hm2 compatibility, HUD position bug, missing number in brackets. List probably goes on and on I used it for 2 days before I lost my patience and switched back to holdem manager 2. If you want to learn more about using HUD here is my video about Holdem Manager 2.

So selling this “software”, charging 100 bucks and calling it a release is a shame and is insulting to all the users. This is clearly in beta testing phase with huge bugs and is absolutely not suitable for professional usage.  Only reason I bought it is because holdem manager 2 have support and updates until December 2020 so after that everybody will have to switch to version 3 or work with outdated software.

Lets just hope they will manage to fix major bugs until then.

If you want to buy this great software please visit website https://www.holdemmanager.com/hm3/

Fuck my life.