Ignition Hand Grabber Guide

PokerTracker 4 version 4.15.4
July 28, 2022
  • Overview

    This guide is for the Ignition Hand Grabber App, which you can use to generate hand history files as you play at Ignition, Bovada or Bodog.

    For help configuring Ignition imports in PokerTracker 4 please read this guide.

  • Registering for the Ignition Hand Grabber App

    To register for the Ignition Hand Grabber App visit this page.

    You will need your license information which you can access via Help > About PokerTracker in the PT4 menu.

  • Automated Setup

    Once you are registered, launch PT4 (restart if it's already running) and the app will be downloaded and installed automatically.

    The App will launch automatically when you start PT4, and run in the background and generate hand histories as long as PT4 is open.

    Notes:

    The App can only grab hands from the installed Ignition software.  Playing in a web browser is not supported.

    Hands can only be grabbed correctly when tables are opened after the Ignition Hand Grabber App is already running.

    Please ensure that PT4 is running before you open your Ignition tables.

    Tip! For the hands to be imported into PT4 as you play you need to start 'Get Hands While Playing' on the Play Poker page.

  • Configuring Ignition in PT4

    See the Ignition Configuration Guide for more information.

    When the app is installed the hand history folder will be detected automatically.

    To enable import of Ignition hands in PT4 go to Configure > Sites & Import Options > Ignition and turn on the Get Hands From Site While Playing option.

    To start the import go to the Play Poker page and click Get Hands While Playing.

     

     

    If you use preferred seating in your Ignition software then select the appropriate table sizes in turn, and select the same seat that you use in the Ignition software.

  • Status Window

    Most of the time you do not need to interact with the App directly, but a menu is added to the PokerTracker Apps menu to allow interation.

    Here you can open the Status window to see whether the App is connected to an Ignition skin, which tables hands are being generated for, and where the hand histories are being written to, as well as the current version of the App.
     

     

    There is also an options button here (the cog) to allow you to enable grabbing of Zone (fast fold) hands.  See the Zone Poker section of this guide for information on Zone hand generation.

  • Zone Poker

    Grabbing of Zone Poker hands is disabled by default because grabbing these hands during play only allows us to generate partial hand histories up to the point in the hand at which you fold.
    This will give correct win/loss results for hero in most hands*, but hero's other stats and villains' data will not be correct in hands where you fast-fold.
    * If you are in the big blind and fast fold before anyone bets then this will be treated as a win for you. This is because the fold will only take effect if anyone bets; if it folds to you you still win. With a lack of information here the correct result is not possible.

    Because the players are anonymous and change every hand the Hud cannot be shown even if hands are importing as you play.

    You will get better data for Zone hands by importing the complete hand histories that you can download from the Ignition client after 24 hours, and if Zone hand grabbing is enabled you will need to purge the generated sessions before importing the downloads.
    We recommend either leaving Zone hand grabbing disabled and using only the downloaded histories for Zone hands, or using a dual-database setup to import downloaded hands to a separate database to be used for reviewing data.

    If you want to enable grabbing of Zone hands as you play you can do so via the Options (gear) button on the Status window.

  • Enabling and Disabling the App

    If you want to temporarily disable the Ignition Hand Grabber App you can do that using the PokerTracker+ menu.

    When an App is disabled it is stopped, and will not be run again until it is re-enabled.

  • Create Support Bundle

    If requested by support you can create a support bundle of all the relevant log files and hand histories via the Ignition Hand Grabber's Status window.

    Tip! These are the files for the current instance of PokerTracker 4 and the Ignition Hand Grabber, so be sure to reproduce the problem you are having and create the support bundle before you restart.

    To do this, first open the Status window go to PokerTracker Apps > Ignition Hand Grabber > Status.

    Now click the gear icon and choose Create Support Bundle.

    Choose a location to save it to and note where that is.  The default is your Documents folder.

    If you already have a support ticket open attach the file to that ticket.
    If not, create a Support Ticket and attach the file.

  • Limitations
    • The Ignition (or Bovada/Bodog) software must be running in English for the Hand Grabber App to work.  You can change the language using the dropdown menu at the top of the lobby window.
    • The Ignition Hand Grabber App can only correctly grab hands from Ignition tables which are opened after the App is already running.
      Please ensure that you have PT4 open before you join your tables.
    • Player names are fully anonymous in the Ignition software.
      PT4 will generate unique names for each player, which are updated as players leave and join the table.  This works the same in grabbed hands as it does in hands you later download from Ignition.
      You will appear as "Hero" in PT4.  Other players will have long "random" names which begin with their seat number, so the name of the player in seat 1 will begin with "P1-", etc.
    • Because of the way that the player names are generated you will often get different opponent names when importing grabbed and downloaded hand history files.
      This is due to the observed hands before you sit in, and the extra hole card information in downloaded histories can't be applied when grabbed hands with different player names are already in the database.
      To work around this you can import the downloaded histories to a separate database for analysis.  Bear in mind that this information is of limited value though, because you won't know when you meet players again, and this is information that you did not have when you played the hand.
    • The Ignition Hand Grabber App is not available on MacOS.
    • It is not possible to display a Hud at Zone poker tables as every hand has different anonymous players.
      Grabbing of Zone hands is disabled by default because more complete information can be achieved by importing downloaded hand histories.
      See the Zone Poker section of this guide for more information and how to enable Zone grabbing.
  • Security Software and the Ignition Hand Grabber

    It is possible for security software to prevent the Ignition Hand Grabber from working and generating hands.  If the Ignition Hand Grabber 'Status' window reports any errors or does not detect your Ignition/Bovada/Bodog poker software when it is running please try adding an exception for the PokerTracker 4 application.  By default this is installed to:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\PokerTracker 4\PokerTracker4.exe

    • Windows Ransomware protection

      Windows 10 security has an option for Ransomware Protection (also known as Controlled Folder Access), and this can interfere with the Ignition Hand Grabber.

      If you have Ransomware Protection enabled on your PC you will need to add PokerTracker 4 to the list of allowed applications, as described in this Microsoft guide.

       

  • Importing Downloaded Hand Histories

    When using the Ignition Hand Grabber, we must generate a unique anonymous name for each player. This is a function of the time of the first hand. Typically with grabber hands the first hand will happen before you start playing.

    However, when you download your hands, your downloaded hands only begin when you start playing so we are not able to generate the same anonymous player names.

    Since the player names do not match up; we are not able to match the hands and update the data with the information in your downloaded hands.

    Therefore, if you are attempting to import downloaded hands of which you have already imported in real-time using the Ignition Hand Grabber then you will need to purge those sessions in PT4 then reimport the hands.

    In PT4, via the File menu go to Database -> Purge Hands. Locate and select the sessions that you want to purge then click the ‘Purge Sessions’ button. Once the hands are purged, you can then import the downloaded Ignition hands in PT4 via Play Poker -> Get Hands From Disk.

    Alternatively you can create a separate database to analyse the downloaded hands, via Database -> Database Management.

highfalutin