Getting started.

PokerForge runs on Windows 10 and 11. Download the installer (about 45 MB) and run it. There's no account to create.

The first time you run it, Windows may show a "Windows protected your PC" screen. That's Microsoft SmartScreen, which appears for new installers from developers who haven't bought a code-signing certificate yet. Click "More info", then "Run anyway".

To check the file first, compare its SHA-256 checksum with the one on the download page.

1. Welcome to PokerForge. Add the folder or folders where your poker client saves hand histories, then choose Get Started. Grosvenor folders are found for you. PokerForge checks these folders for new hands every time it starts.
2. Confirm Your Details. PokerForge shows the username and currency it detected from your hands. Correct them if they're wrong. If the name it found appears in only some of your hands, it warns you to check the folder.
3. The first import. A progress bar shows the stats database being built. This happens once; later launches only read new hands.
4. A short guide. The Getting Started guide and a tour of the app open. You can reopen both from the Help menu.

Not sure where your client saves hand histories? Look for a hand history setting in the poker client itself. Rooms that give you a download instead are covered in the next step.

GGPoker and CoinPoker give you hand histories as a download. Import them with Import › Import Hand Files… or Import › Import Hand Folder…, or drag files, folders or zips onto the window. Zips are opened for you, and hands you already have are skipped.

You can add or remove watched folders at any time from Import › Manage Hand History Folders…. See Supported rooms for what each room includes.

Tools › Load Demo Data… creates a separate Demo profile filled with generated hands, so you can try every page without your own data. It doesn't touch your real profile. Switch between profiles with File › Switch Profile….

The demo hands are deliberately simple: actions are random and showdown winners are chosen at random, so the win rates they produce aren't realistic. They're there to show how the app works. The demo screens on this site come from the same generator.

The sidebar holds every page: Dashboard, Sessions, Stats, Improve, Reports, Population, Data Analysis and Table Manager. Most have a keyboard shortcut shown beside them, such as Ctrl+1 for the Dashboard.

The filter bar across the top sets the period, stakes, sites and game type. Your choice stays the same as you move between pages, and Ctrl+click picks more than one stake or site.

Almost every number opens the hands behind it. Double-click a row, or right-click a hand to replay it, view its details or copy it.

Take the product tour to see each page before you install.

• Updates install themselves. PokerForge checks once a day (you can turn this off), shows what changed, and installs the update when you choose. The download is checked against its published checksum before it runs. Update › Check for Updates… checks straight away.
• Daily backups. PokerForge backs up your data automatically every day. In File › Settings, choose where backups go: another drive or a folder like OneDrive survives a dead hard drive.
• Manual backups. Tools › Backup My Data… and Tools › Restore from Backup….

Use Help › Report a Bug…, or email support@pokerforge.app.

If you're asked for logs, Tools › Database & Diagnostics… can create a support bundle: your logs and a summary in one file. It never includes your hands or your licence key.

Common questions are answered in the FAQ, and every release is listed in the changelog.