General

What is SharkScope?

SharkScope is the largest database of online poker tournament results.

Will it turn me into a winning poker player?

Probably not. However if used properly, SharkScope will significantly increase your profitability or reduce your losses.

Do the poker rooms supply you with the results?

No. We independently collate the publicly available results of tournaments.

Is SharkScope use allowed by all sites?

SharkScope use is allowed by all sites we cover. Note that the use of SharkScope statistics to abuse players on any site is prohibited and doing so could result in the closure of your SharkScope account and censure by the poker site themselves.

Is SharkScope an unfair advantage?

Absolutely not. SharkScope use is an advantage but it is not an unfair one as:
  • Anyone can use SharkScope with the free 5 searches per day.
  • Anyone can block their statistics from public view.
  • All the data we provide is publicly viewable at the end of each tournament. Anyone could write down and collate these results if they wished.
  • SharkScope is an independent monitor of sites and believes in complete transparency. You can be sure that you are on a level playing and that no cheating is occurring by studying the available result patterns and using our head to head statistics for collusion detection. We are confident that on the sites we cover and for the tournaments we cover, a scandal such as the one to hit Absolute Poker recently would not go unnoticed.

What counts as a search against my daily quota?

  • Any username or tournament ID search that returns data.
  • Any username loaded from a saved table, tournament entrants list or refreshed in the table.
  • Any tournament loaded from the Tournament Selector table.
  • Tournament Selector searches uses 1 search for 60 seconds worth of updates.

When do the daily search quotas get reset?

All daily search quotas are reset at 12 Midnight PST (GMT -8).

When do the monthly subscriptions run from / to?

Monthly subscriptions run from the day you purchase them to the same day on the following month.

How do I cancel my recurring monthly subscription?

To cancel your recurring subscription please click here.

How do I change the credit card info on my recurring subscription?

Please cancel your existing subscription and once it expires you can create a new subscription with your new card details.

Can I share my SharkScope subscription with other people?

Your SharkScope account can be used on up to 2 devices at the same time. If we detect more devices than this your account my be temporarily blocked or even permanently banned.

What proportion of online poker players make money from Sit and Go tournaments?

About 1/3rd of the usernames are profitable. 2/3rds lose money. More information can be read here.

Can I be removed from the database?

You may click here and fill out the form and your data will be made inaccessible to all users - including yourself.

Can I have my stats reset?

Yes, subscribers can reset their statistics by selecting the Reset Statistics item in the Options menu.

Can I remove or change an Existing Reset?

Yes, to remove or manage Resets, you must have an active paid subscription and go to the Manage Personal Player Names item in the Options menu.

When performing a Reset, an icon appears next to my screen name that says Reset. Can this be removed?

No, the icon will appear until you remove the Reset.

How do I Opt-In / show my profit and ROI on PokerStars.com?

To opt-in you must send $0.03 to the user SharkScope on PokerStars. For more details about the opt-in procedure please see here.

For PokerStars.it and PokerStars.fr please use the standard blocking form found here.

Can I freely use and post screenshots from SharkScope?

Yes, it is acceptable to utilize and share screenshots from SharkScope. However, we would appreciate proper attribution and backlinks to our platform. Furthermore, if the images contain screen names that do not belong to you, we kindly request that you obscure them.

Coverage

Which networks do you support?

All the networks we cover are shown on SharkScope home page.

How quickly do new results get registered?

Most results are captured within a few minutes of the tournament finishing, although some poker sites will involve delays of up to 48 hours.

Why didn’t some of my results get captured?

Unfortunately no result capture system is perfect and some results will occasionally get missed. On average we have a greater than 99% capture rate. We are constantly working to improve the efficiency of the result capturing. If you wish to have a missing game for a PokerStars, Winamax, Sky or PKR network added to the database you may request it here.

If you use the SharkScope Desktop it will automatically report all missing games for you and ensure we have 100% coverage of your results.

Do you support cash rooms?

No and we do not intend to in the future.

Why can’t I find data on a particular player?

It is very rare to find a player that is not in the database. It most likely means the player has not played a real money tournament before or you mistyped player name.

Which tournaments can I search for?

You can search for completed tournaments on any network. You can also search for registered and running tournaments of two tables or smaller.

How does SharkScope classify tournament speed (Deep, Normal, Turbo, Hyper)?

SharkScope classifies tournament speed by mapping each poker site’s tournament speed labels into SharkScope’s standard speed categories: Deep, Normal, Turbo, and Hyper.

Wherever possible, we start with the speed designation provided by the poker network itself, then relabel it into SharkScope’s standard terminology for consistency across sites.

Different poker sites often use different names for similar tournament structures. For example:

  • Deep may also be called Deepstack or Slow
  • Normal may be labelled Regular or Standard
  • Turbo may appear as Fast, Speed, or Rapid
  • Hyper may be called Super Turbo, Ultra, or Hyper-Turbo

SharkScope normalizes these variations so that tournament speeds can be compared consistently across networks. If a site does not explicitly label tournament speed, classification may not be available or may follow the closest equivalent used by that network.

Statistics

How are Sharks and Fish determined?

The shark symbol means the website has automatically categorized that player as being very strong. A very weak player will get a Fish symbol. The exact criteria used can be viewed (and changed if you disagree with our settings) in the Configure Player Classes section and subscribers can also add your own custom classes.

We broadly aim to make the top 15% of players Sharks and the bottom 15% Fish by default. We have 3 types of Shark as a good Av. ROI varies with stake level. For example a 7% Av. ROI is extremely good at the $1000 level, but mediocre at the $5 stake level.

How can I see my results for one particular game type?

On the Search Database page there is an Advanced Search tab, which allows you to filter results by any criteria you wish. Note this option is only available to subscribers.

What do the stars mean?

A star by a players name signifies that they on a leaderboard and represents their best position on any leaderboard. 1st position on a leaderboard gets a diamond star, positions 2-5 get a gold star and the remaining positions 6-20 get a silver star. To find out which leaderboard the star corresponds to, hover over the star or click on it. A player with a star will not get a shark fin. A player rated overall as a fish will not get a star.

What is Average ROI?

Average ROI is the average Return On Investment. It is calculated as the average of each ((payout-(stake+rake))*100)/(stake+rake). So it will be -100% for a player that loses every game, and about 309% for a player that wins every 9 handed game. It could of course be a lot higher if, for example the player won every 180 player game they played in. It is a measure of ability independent of stake. Another way to look at it is as an ITM% (In The Money percentage) weighted to the actual payouts relative to the stake.

Please note that this figure is the average of the ROIs which is different from total ROI which is the ROI of the averages. Total ROI is not shown in the table by default as it simply duplicates the information already displayed by the average stake and total profit fields, however it can be added to table by clicking the Columns button at the bottom of the table if you wish to view it.

How can Average Profit be negative and Average ROI be positive?

This would mean the player wins most of his lower stakes games that he plays most frequently but loses the high stakes games he occasionally plays.

How are rebuy expenses calculated?

Most sites do not display how many rebuys each player bought during a tournament therefore by default we have to estimate the rebuy expenses and assign the average rebuy expenses for that tournament to each player. In the long term this will provide reasonably accurate results, however if want to display your results without any rebuy expenses, using a custom number of rebuys per tournament or simply exclude rebuy tournaments altogether then you can do so using the advanced search options. Note that the SharkScope Desktop provides a feature for uploading rebuy and add-on information for Pokerstars tournaments that get accurately incorporated into your statistics.

How are satellite seat prizes handled?

Satellite prizes are converted into their cash values.

How does the Tournament Rating get calculated for the Tournament Selector?

The rules for the SharkScope tournament rating are as follows:
  • Ignore all players with less than 100 results.
  • Calculate the average of the remaining players average ROI
  • Show 1 shark for every positive 10% of this room average rounded to the nearest 10%, or show 1 fish for every negative 10%.

What is the Ability /100 statistic?

The Ability rating is a rating that goes up to 100 and shows a player’s ability based on an assessment of all the other statistics we have compiled for that player. It allows you to easily compare players who play significantly different stake levels and tournament types - for example a player who loses a small amount at high stakes games is likely a better player than a player that wins money at very low stakes games - and so may well have a higher Ability rating.

How can I combine the results of multiple usernames?

You can combine results from multiple usernames and multiple networks using a Player Group. Player Groups can be created by first searching for the player names you wish to combine and then clicking the Groups button at the bottom of the table.

Do date/day filters use the start or end date of a tournament?

All date/day filters use the start date of each tournament unless the start date is not known. In this case the end date is used.

What other date filter options are there?

There are a number of pre configured date filter options in the date field drop down, but there are also additional options available by typing them directly into the date field.
  1. 2013: Search only for results in the year 2013. This filter works in PST and used for all yearly leaderboards.
  2. 1Y: Show all results from the past 1 Year.

How are the per hour statistics for players calculated?

SharkScope does not directly track the exact time a player is eliminated from a tournament. Instead, we estimate per hour statistics based on the average time players in similar positions are eliminated from comparable tournaments. It’s important to note that Late Registration times are not tracked, so all players are assumed to have registered at the beginning of each tournament.

What timezone does SharkScope use?

All individually displayed dates, tournament temporal statistics and player temporal graphs are displayed using the timezone the user’s computer is set to. All other statistics that rely on a 24-hour window such as Max Games/Day use Pacific Time.

Leaderboards

I’m the greatest player in the world. Why am I not in a leaderboard?

Players in the leaderboard need to be submitted for consideration. They are not always automatically detected.

Why do players have to be submitted to the Leaderboard?

We automatically scan every day for candidates for our leaderboards. However, due to the massive size of the SharkScope database, occasionally players who qualify for our leaderboards may be missed by our system. If you believe a player should be in our leaderboards that is not listed please submit them here.

How often are the leaderboards updated?

The leaderboards are updated at least daily (although new players can be added at any time).

Are blocked users included in the leaderboards?

No, blocked users are not included in the leaderboards. If you block your username and you are currently in a leaderboard you will be removed from it.

How do resets affect leaderboard entries?

The leaderboards ignore any player resets.

I have an average stake of $30 and an average profit of $50 per game. Why did i not make it into the $16-$35 leaderboard?

The leaderboard grouping $16-$35 only uses results of games played within that stake range, and it is not referring to your overall average stake. If you played a $100 game and won it, it will not affect this leaderboard. For the average profit leaderboards, you must have played at least 500 games that meet that leaderboard’s specific criteria.

What counts as a heads up game?

For the purposes of the leaderboards a heads up game is any game with less than 5 entrants.

Do the leaderboard stake levels include rake?

No.

Can I be added to historic leaderboards?

No. All players must have been submitted and opted-in at the time the leaderboard was finalized.

SharkScope Desktop

Is SharkScope Desktop use allowed by all sites?

SharkScope Desktop use is allowed by all sites, including PokerStars.

Where can I find the SharkScope Desktop User Guide?

SharkScope Desktop User Guide.

What is the best way to get SharkScope Desktop technical support?

Please use the Help>Report An Issue option in the Desktop as this will automatically provide our support team with all the information they need to resolve your problem.

Does Desktop use cost searches?

  • The SharkScope HUD uses 1 search for every player at your table, unless that player is already in your cache. The cache can be set to remember player statistics for 1 hour or 1 day.
  • The SharkScope Hand Tracker uses 1 search every time you click on a player’s SharkScope Info button, unless that player is already in your cache.
  • The SharkScope Sync uses 1 search per 100 tournaments synchronized.

Will the Desktop help boost my tournament coverage?

Beyond SharkScope’s 99% capture rate, the SharkScope Desktop automatically uploads your game results and alerts SharkScope if any of your game results aren’t covered, thereby insuring a 100% capture rate. In addition, the Desktop provides a feature (for Pokerstars only) allowing you to upload your rebuy and add-on information for 100% buyin accuracy.

How do I login to the Desktop if use the Facebook login option on the website?

Your username is the email address you have registered with Facebook and you can request a password here.

Troubleshooting

Why am I unable to reach the SharkScope website from some computers?

Most likely this is caused by some bad DNS information that is cached at your end. Please try restarting your Modem and/or Router.

Why does it say I have 0 free searches remaining?

If you currently have 0 free searches then this will be due to one of the following reasons:

  • You have already used your 5 free searches for the day (searches reset at midnight PST GMT-8).
  • Another person using the same IP Address as you has already used up the free searches for today.
  • You are using a VPN or Proxy (free searches are unavailable to Proxy and VPN users).

Why does nothing happen if I click the login button?

Most likely you are using an old version of a browser and need to update it. SharkScope is tested to work with the latest versions of all major browser and these are the only versions that we are able to support.

Why does the SharkScope site appear to only partially load from my computer?

Some malware and internet security software can prevent the SharkScope website from functioning correctly and you will need to remove it or disable it to get SharkScope to work. For example if you find you have malware called Sendori you should uninstall it.

Are player searches case-sensitive?

No, the search mechanism recognizes both lowercase and uppercase letters without distinction.