Why SharkScope: what it does and why tournament players use it

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SharkScope is a website that collects the public results of online poker tournaments and turns them into player and field statistics. Tournament grinders use it to answer one question before they register: who am I actually playing against, and is this game worth my buy-in?

The short version

• What it is: by its own description, the largest database of online poker tournament results. It collects publicly available results itself; the poker rooms don't supply them.
• Tournaments only. It does not track cash games, and says it never will.
• Free to try: 5 searches a day for guests and free accounts. No card needed for a free account.
• Paid plans raise the daily search limit and unlock filters, extra statistics and desktop tools. Prices below.
• Not a magic bullet. SharkScope's own FAQ answers "Will it turn me into a winning poker player?" with "Probably not," then adds that used properly it can cut losses or raise profit.

What you actually get

• Player lookup. Type a screen name and a network to see that player's recorded tournaments: profit, average stake, ITM (how often they cash), Average ROI, an Ability rating out of 100, and graphs over time.
• How ROI is calculated. Average ROI is the average of each tournament's ((payout − (stake + rake)) × 100) ÷ (stake + rake). A player who loses every game is −100%. It is the average of per-game ROIs, which is not the same as total ROI.
• Sharks and fish labels. By default the top 15% of players are marked as sharks and the bottom 15% as fish. You can change the criteria. A good ROI depends on stake: 7% is excellent at $1,000 and mediocre at $5, SharkScope says.
• Filters (paid plans): narrow a player's results by stake, game type, date, tournament name and more, so you can see how someone does in, say, turbos or bounties rather than all games blended together.
• Tournament speed normalised. Different rooms call the same thing Turbo, Fast, Speed or Rapid. SharkScope maps them into Deep, Normal, Turbo and Hyper so you can compare across sites.
• Registering tournaments. A free account lets you browse registering tournaments. Gold and Platinum add "Your edge", an expected return for each registering tournament, and all paid plans get labels and alerts for games you want to come back to.
• Leaderboards and rankings. Leaderboards by network and stake, updated at least daily. Players have to be submitted and opted in, so they are not a complete list of the best players.

Why tournament players use it

• Field research before you register. A tournament full of high-volume regulars plays differently from one full of casual players. Looking at a field helps you choose between similar events at the same buy-in.
• An honest look at your own results. Your own ROI by stake and format shows where you actually make or lose money, not where you think you do.
• Choosing games, not predicting outcomes. Stats describe the past. They help you pick better spots and manage your bankroll. They can't tell you how someone plays today.
• Level playing field. SharkScope points out that anyone can use the free searches and anyone can block their own stats from public view.

Who it's useful for

A good fit: regular MTT and sit-and-go players on tracked networks, anyone moving up in stakes who wants to see the field first, and players who want to review their own results by format. Probably skip it if: you play mostly cash games, you mostly play at anonymous or untracked sites, or you play a handful of freerolls for fun. The free 5 searches a day are enough to see whether it is useful to you before you pay anything.

Free vs paid

Prices as listed on SharkScope's pricing page on Oct 26, 2026. They show the per-month price when billed every 3 months. SharkScope lists a 7-day money-back guarantee (once per customer). Subscriptions renew automatically until you cancel. HandTracker is also sold on its own for a one-time $99 and includes no searches. A search is used each time a lookup returns data, so spend them on the games you're actually considering.

Desktop, HUD and API

• SharkScope Desktop includes a HUD and a hand tracker, and syncs your tournament database with the site. The HUD uses one search per new player at your table. HUD and Sync start at Silver; HandTracker comes with Gold.
• Room rules still apply. SharkScope says its Desktop is allowed on all the sites it covers, but each poker room has its own rules on third-party tools and some ban real-time aids. Read the room's terms before you use a HUD.
• API and AI connector are for Pro and Enterprise accounts. Most players won't need them.
• We didn't find a dedicated mobile app on SharkScope's site, so assume it is a website plus the desktop software.

The limits, honestly

• Only tracked networks. Stats exist only where SharkScope tracks results. Its network list shows 44 open networks (94 since 2005) as of Oct 26, 2026. See the table below for our sites.
• Players can hide. Anyone can block their stats from public view, and blocked players are left out of leaderboards. On PokerStars, profit and ROI only show for players who opt in. A hidden player isn't a bad player.
• Some rooms don't give you names to look up. Ignition tables are anonymous (seat numbers only), so there is nothing to search.
• Gaps and delays. SharkScope says it captures more than 99% of results on average, most within minutes, but some sites take up to 48 hours and a few results get missed. Profit can also differ from your cashier because of bonuses, rebuy estimates and games it doesn't track.
• Small samples lie. A few hundred tournaments tell you little, and a high ROI over a small sample is often just variance.
• Don't use it to abuse players. SharkScope prohibits using its stats to abuse players and can close accounts for it.
• Results aren't a guarantee. Poker tournaments are high variance. SharkScope says about a third of sit-and-go usernames are profitable and two thirds lose money.

Which of our sites does it cover?

Based on SharkScope's own network list on Oct 26, 2026. On GGPoker, PokerFuse and PokerStrategy report that SharkScope stopped tracking new public results in 2023, so treat any GG stats as old. If a site matters to you, search one known player on it before paying.

How to use it with this finder

1. Pick the game first. Start from Tonight's tournaments, Starting soon or Sunday majors and choose by buy-in, guarantee and start time (all times Central).
2. Research the field. On tournament cards for networks SharkScope covers well, the Research the field link opens that network's SharkScope leaderboard, so you can see who has been winning lately. On the covered-site pages under Sites there is a link to the same place.
3. Look up the names you meet. Use the lookup box on our SharkScope overview for a specific screen name. It opens SharkScope in a new tab and uses one of your searches.
4. Read the numbers sensibly. Our guide How to use SharkScope to pick tournaments covers sample size, ROI and ITM.

Sources

Checked Oct 26, 2026 on SharkScope's own pages (sharkscope.com home, pricing, FAQ, networks list and Desktop page), plus PokerFuse and PokerStrategy for the GGPoker tracking change, and PrimeDope and Card Player for Ignition's anonymous tables. I don't state user counts or testimonials because I can't verify them. Nothing here is financial advice; stats describe the past.

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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.