StakeMonster Breaks Down Poker Software Use

Pascal Tremblay, known as “StakeMonster” to the online poker community, has risen through the ranks of Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em and is now taking shots in some of the biggest games online.  He has been a student of Daniel “JungleMan12” Cates for over a year and coaches small and mid-stakes players with impressive results.  At age 30 and living in Montreal, Canada, he’s been playing poker professionally for a full year and been coaching for two.

PSW: What poker software programs are ones that you use every time you play?

Pascal Tremblay: The obvious one would be Holdem Manager. I'd find it really difficult not to play with it since it gives me all of the information I need to keep track of my results. It also helps me improve through hand reviews and analyzing statistics on my play.

PSW: Some people feel that using tracking programs and shortcuts are a waste of time, while others abide by them religiously.  Where do you stand?

Pascal Tremblay: I think not using one is a major mistake. There are no downsides to using one really. It can give you so much useful info on your play and results that not using one would just be handicapping yourself for no reason. Most, if not all, good players use something like Holdem Manager or PokerTracker these days.

PSW: Would you mind talking about Heads-Up Display (HUD) stats that players don't normally use?

Pascal Tremblay: I think the most important thing is to experiment with stats available to you. You need to go through a lot of matches to get a feel for what the stats mean in an organic way. What I mean by this is that through experience, you'll eventually develop a sense of what they might tell you in certain situations. In the game I play (Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em), this is even truer because while I could tell you that a stat of 30% under "Check-Raise Flop" could mean a certain range of possible hands, it's likely not going to be accurate and fully encompassing of the player and situation we are in.

However, if I were to view the match and then see that stat alongside all of the other ones, then I might be able to come up with a more definite answer as to what the stat is telling us because I have a lot of experience in using them in conjunction with other information.

It's important not to look at the stats as a definite answer and certainly not to look at them in a vacuum. You have to piece all of the information you have gathered together first and only then refer to the HUD for either a confirmation or extra knowledge you can then add to the rest. It's also important to realize how fast or slow some stats converge.

As far as good HUD stats that I use, it's a hard question to answer. I believe any stat can be useful if applied properly and what I might feel is useful information might not be for someone else or it might be interpreted incorrectly. I'd say that, in Heads-Up especially, it's very important to separate positional play very clearly in the stats you use since playing out of position and in position are two completely different games.  It's critical that you can use positional stats to try and figure out how your opponent plays those two games clearly.

PSW: Is investing in anti-tilt software a decent investment or are players better off conquering the mental aspect of the game?

Pascal Tremblay:  I think the second option is a much better one since it's better to focus on the source of the problems rather than trying to work around them and give yourself a crutch to help you avoid the emotional issues you might have.

PSW: What are some "hidden gem" resources that you use either online or on your computer to help you improve your game?

Pascal Tremblay: I wouldn't say I have any “hidden gems” that not many people already know about. Everyone knows about the numerous training sites and such. The most useful resources I’ve had in the last three years are my personal notes. I take notes on all of the coaching I receive, all of the videos I read, and any other information I think is useful to my game.

I have a big pile of notes I study each day and also a couple of notebooks filled with useful concepts and theory that I refer to. Just writing what I have learned helps me remember it a lot better than if I hear it in a video for a few minutes. It sticks in my mind a lot better and since there's so much to learn about poker, there's no way just watching videos or reading articles can fully be absorbed. The information needs to be hammered into your brain constantly for it to really be remembered and implemented into your game.

PSW: When looking at your stats or past sessions, what are you looking at specifically?

Pascal Tremblay:  I mostly look at the bigger pots I’ve lost. That's usually where the biggest mistakes might happen and thus the biggest hits to my win-rate. I think that's sort of the natural thing to do anyway since we naturally focus on the biggest pots we've lost when looking for mistakes. However, I think there's also value in looking at pots won and looking to see if there was any lost value there, which can be as equally costly as the mistakes made in losing pots. I just choose to focus more on the lost pots to be more efficient in my session review time.

As for what I am looking for, it will change depending on the hand and situation. Most of the time, it ends up being an analysis of my opponent's hand range and seeing if I miscalculated it at the time. I'll also look at my bet sizing and how I might have been able to improve that or my line in general against a specific opponent at a specific time in the match.

PSW: We know you do some coaching.  What programs do you use for coaching sessions?

Pascal Tremblay:  I use Team Viewer so that students can see my screen when I review their video, Skype so we can talk directly, and Pamela.biz so I can record the audio conversation for my student. Occasionally, I'll also use Camtasia to record my screen during the session. After that, I will send the recordings to my student so that he/she can review the session and what we've talked about at his/her own leisure.

PSW: You play at the major online poker sites.  Which has the best software client in your opinion?  Is there any one feature you wish was out there that doesn't exist?

Pascal Tremblay:  Full Tilt has the best software by far in my opinion. It's smooth, slick, and fun to play with. I'm a big fan of avatars and I like having fun with the different emoticons. Yes, it’s childish, but it's also quite fun! I suggest using the gecko avatar with the "Angry" state for maximum enjoyment. There's just no real downside to their software since it has everything I am looking for.

It exists on most major sites these days, but I really wish every site out there would incorporate security tokens into their software. There's just no reason to not do it and it would increase the security of the players' accounts by a huge margin. It'd make people feel a lot more comfortable about keeping thousands of dollars online.

One other feature I would really like is a way to close all of the tables I am on in one click. It'd save me the hassle of closing a ton of tables whenever I want to go eat or quit a session.

PSW:   You've climbed your way up with a lot of hard work.  Do you have any final advice to some of the micro stakes grinders reading this?

Pascal Tremblay:  I think the answer here is in the question itself. Hard work is really the only way to "make it." Making it has different meanings for everyone, but regardless of what it is, it will not happen without a strong dedication to improving your game at all times. It's impossible to get to a point where working on your game won't return a significant amount of benefits. Even the best players in the world keep studying, reviewing, and absorbing all of the info they can get.

The constant drive to be as great as you can be is critical to avoiding complacency and a plateau in your skill level. The goal should always be to raise your skill in all aspects of the game (theoretically, mentally, and physically).

In the end, the people who work the hardest always become the better players. There's no way around it and I think that's the key to anyone's success in any field. This is especially true these days in poker, where there are millions of resources to help a player improve.  If you're not taking full advantage of most of them, then you're costing yourself a lot in the long-run because your opponents are.

PokerSoftware.com would like to thank Pascal Tremblay for his time with this interview.  If you are interested in learning more about him, feel free to visit his regularly updated blog at http://stakemonster.wordpress.com.