guides6 min read

Poker Analytics 6 Review: Is It Still Worth It?

Tom Sullivan·March 3, 2026

Poker Analytics 6 has been around longer than most live poker tracking apps on the market. Developed by Stax River, it has built a loyal user base over multiple major version cycles — and it still gets regular updates. But longevity is not the same as relevance. If you are searching for a poker analytics 6 review before committing to a subscription, the real question is whether this app fits how you actually play and study poker today. For a broader look at all the options, see our full comparison of the best live poker hand tracking apps.

Here is what PA6 does well, where it falls short, and who should still be using it. This review looks at the app through the lens that matters most to serious live players: session tracking quality, hand capture practicality, export flexibility, and study workflow fit.

What Poker Analytics 6 Does Well

PA6 is primarily a session tracker and bankroll manager — and in that role, it is genuinely strong. The app lets you log sessions with detailed metadata: game type, stakes, location, duration, and result. Over time, it builds a database of your playing history and generates automatic reports that show which formats, stakes, and venues are most profitable for you.

The reporting is where PA6 earns its reputation. The app crunches your session data and surfaces trends you might not notice on your own — which game types you are beating, how your hourly rate shifts by session length, and where your bankroll is trending over time. For players who want a data-driven view of their results, this is genuinely useful.

Other Notable Features

PA6 packs in a wide range of tools beyond session tracking. It includes an Apple Watch extension for quick session logging, player notes with color coding, expense and tip tracking, risk of ruin analysis, and support for tracking casino sessions, bets, and investments alongside poker. It also offers iCloud backup and keeps your data private — no server-side data collection.

The app imports data from PokerTracker 3/4 and Holdem Manager 1, which is helpful if you are migrating from a desktop tracker or want to consolidate historical records.

Pricing

PA6 gives new users 10 free sessions to test the app. After that, unlimited usage requires a Pro subscription at $29.99/year, which includes a 30-day free trial with full access during the trial period.

At $29.99/year, PA6 is reasonably priced — especially compared to desktop analysis tools that run $65–$160 for a one-time license. The 10-session allocation plus the 30-day trial gives you enough runway to decide whether the app fits your workflow before committing.

(Pricing reflects U.S. App Store as of March 2026 and may vary by region.)

Where Poker Analytics 6 Falls Short

The Interface Feels Dated

PA6 has been iterating for years, and the interface reflects that history. It is functional, but the design carries the weight of multiple feature additions layered over an older foundation. Navigation can feel cluttered, and the learning curve is steeper than it needs to be. Relative to many live poker tracking apps, it remains capable, but the user experience still feels more utilitarian than modern.

Hand Recording Is a Secondary Feature

PA6 does include a hand recorder, and the developer describes it as "super fast." In practice, however, hand recording in PA6 is a feature bolted onto a session tracker — not the core design focus. It works, but it is not optimized for the specific constraint of capturing hands in real-time at a live poker table, where you have roughly 25–30 hands per hour and 30–60 seconds between deals to log anything meaningful.

If your primary goal is session-level tracking — profit and loss, hours played, bankroll trajectory — the hand recorder is a nice bonus. If your primary goal is capturing hand-level data for post-session study, it is not purpose-built for that workflow.

No PokerStars-Format Export for Analysis Tools

This is the most significant limitation for players who want to study their game seriously. PA6 exports data in CSV and XML formats and is not designed as a poker-site hand history manager. It also does not export hands in PokerStars-style text format, which limits compatibility with many popular poker analysis tools that rely on text-based hand history imports.

In practical terms, PA6 does not offer a straightforward PokerStars-format export path into mainstream desktop analysis tools. For players whose study workflow depends on importing live hands into PT4, HM3, or similar software, that limitation is a major drawback.

Who Should Still Use Poker Analytics 6?

PA6 remains a solid choice for a specific type of player: someone who wants a comprehensive session tracker with bankroll management, automatic reporting, and Apple Watch convenience — and who does not need to export hands to external analysis tools.

If you primarily care about tracking your results over time, identifying your most profitable game types, and managing your bankroll with data rather than gut feeling, PA6 does that job well at a fair price. The $29.99/year Pro plan gives you a lot of tracking capability for the money.

When You Need Something Different

If your workflow includes PokerTracker 4, Holdem Manager 3, or GTO Wizard — or if capturing hand-level detail at the table is your priority — PA6's limitations become hard to ignore. In that case, a purpose-built live hand logging app may be a better fit. For example, LiveHands is built around fast real-time hand capture and PokerStars-format export for downstream analysis. That is a meaningfully different workflow from what PA6 is designed to do.

The Bottom Line

Poker Analytics 6 is a mature, well-supported app that does session tracking and bankroll management well. It also appears actively maintained, with strong App Store feedback and continued updates. But it is still a session tracker first and a hand recorder second — and that distinction matters if your real goal is structured hand review in external study tools.

If session tracking is what you need, PA6 is still worth it. If hand-level data and analysis tool export are what you need, look elsewhere.


If your priority is fast live hand capture and export into downstream study tools, LiveHands is built for that workflow. Try it free for 7 days.