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How to use SharkScope to pick tournaments

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Stats sites can help you understand a tournament field before you register. This guide covers how to read them sensibly. It's educational only: stats describe the past and don't guarantee any result.

Why look up opponents?

• Spot regulars and recreational players. A table of high-volume regulars plays very differently from one with casual players.
• Adjust your aggression. Pressure players who fold too much, and avoid bluffing players who rarely fold.
• Avoid the toughest tables when you can, in sit-and-gos, shootouts and heads-up especially.
• Track your own ROI to see which formats and stakes actually suit you.

1. Start from your bankroll, not the stats

Choose buy-ins you can afford first (many players keep 100+ buy-ins for tournaments). Use our stakes pages to find events in your range, then use stats only to choose between them.

2. Read the numbers carefully

• Sample size matters most. A few hundred tournaments tells you very little. Results swing hugely in poker tournaments.
• ROI is profit as a percentage of buy-ins. A high ROI on a small sample is often luck.
• ITM is how often a player cashes. It says nothing about how deep they go.
• Ability scores are the service's own model, not a fact about the player.

3. Look at a field, not one opponent

Registering-tournament tools let you see who has entered. A field full of high-volume regulars plays tougher than one with many recreational players. Use this to compare similar events, not to predict an outcome.

Which of our sites are covered?

Covered: Americas Cardroom (ACR) (WPN), BetOnline (Chico), Global Poker (Global Poker), CoinPoker (CoinPoker), GGPoker (GGNetwork), WSOP Online (US) (WSOP(MI-NJ-NV-PA)), PokerStars US (FanDuel) (FanDuel), Ignition (Bodog). Not covered: ClubWPT Gold and Phenom. Full table on our SharkScope page.

4. Check the network's leaderboard

On our tournament cards for covered networks, the Research the field link opens that network's leaderboard on SharkScope, so you can see who's been winning lately.

5. Budget your searches

Free users get 5 searches a day (reset at midnight PT / 2 AM CT). Spend them on the events you're seriously considering. See our SharkScope overview for plans.

What stats can't tell you

• How someone plays today, or whether they're tilted, tired or improving.
• Results on networks or games that aren't tracked.
• Whether you will win. Nothing can.

Check the room's rules first. Poker sites have different rules on third-party tools. Some allow stat lookups but ban HUDs or real-time tools while you're seated. Read each room's terms on third-party software before you use SharkScope or any tool with it.

Play responsibly. Tournaments are entertainment, not income. 18+/21+. Help: 1-800-GAMBLER.