PokerForge — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-09-25

The short version

PokerForge runs entirely on your own computer. Your hand histories, statistics and settings never leave your machine — there is no cloud sync, no analytics, and no account needed to use the app.

By default, the app makes no requests to track, profile or measure you at all. There are three requests it can ever make — an update check (once a day unless you turn it off, or when you ask), an optional anonymous usage ping you explicitly opt into, and a licence check if you're a paying subscriber — and none of them ever includes any of your poker data. All three are described in "Third-party services" below. If you buy a subscription, see "If you buy a subscription" for the limited data that involves.

What data PokerForge stores

PokerForge reads poker hand-history files that your poker client already saves on your computer (or that you've exported yourself), and builds a local database of statistics from them. This includes:

Your own hole cards, actions, and results for hands you've played
The usernames and observable in-hand actions of other players who were seated in those same hands ("villains"), and statistics derived from them
Settings you configure in the app (hero name, currency, which folders to watch)

All of this is stored in a single local database file on your computer, at %APPDATA%\SFPoker\ on Windows. Nothing is uploaded, transmitted, or shared with PokerForge, its developer, or any third party.

Data about other players

Because hand histories necessarily include other players at the table, PokerForge's database contains other people's usernames and derived statistics (e.g. how often they raise). This data:

Comes only from hand histories your own poker client already gave you
Never leaves your computer
Is not used for any purpose other than showing you your own opponents' tendencies within the app

If you uninstall PokerForge, this data is not automatically deleted (see "Deleting your data" below), since it lives separately from the installed program files.

Deleting your data

All app data lives in one folder: %APPDATA%\SFPoker\. Deleting that folder removes your entire database, settings, and log file. Uninstalling the app itself does not delete this folder automatically.

Third-party services

PokerForge does not integrate with any analytics provider, crash-reporting tool, or advertising network. Nothing about your usage is measured, profiled or reported unless you explicitly turn on the usage ping below — and even then, all it ever says is "an install exists and opened the app," never anything about how you play.

There are exactly three network requests the app can make. None ever includes hand histories, hole cards, player names, your hero identity, or anything else about your poker activity:

Update check — downloads a small version file (and, if there's a newer version, its list of changes) from pokerforge.app to see whether a newer release exists. On by default: it happens once a day, the first time you open the app that day, and whenever you pick Update > Check for Updates or Update > Current Version. It's a plain download of a public file — nothing about you, your computer or your poker is sent with it, and like any web request it reaches our host with your IP address. Turn the daily check off any time in File > Settings or Update > Current Version ("Check for updates automatically"). If you choose to install an update, the installer is downloaded from pokerforge.app and checked against its published checksum before it runs.
Anonymous usage ping — off by default; only if you turn it on, either the first time you're asked or later in Settings. Once per day at most, sends a random id (generated once on your machine, not tied to your hardware or hero name) and the app version, so we can tell roughly how many people use PokerForge. Turn it off any time in Settings.
Licence validation — only if you have entered a paid licence key. Once when the app starts, it asks our licence server whether that subscription is still active. The request contains the licence key and nothing else. If you have not entered a licence key, this request never happens.

With the daily update check turned off, the usage ping left off and no licence key entered, the app makes no automatic network requests whatsoever.

If you buy a subscription

Payment is handled by Stripe. Your card details go directly to Stripe and are never seen, handled or stored by PokerForge — Stripe's own privacy policy governs how they process them.

To deliver your licence key and check it's still valid, our licence server stores only:

the email address you provided at checkout
your licence key, and which Stripe subscription it belongs to
whether that subscription is active, and the date it is paid up to

Your licence key is emailed to you using SendGrid, which processes your email address in order to deliver that one message.

None of this is ever connected to your poker data. Your hands, statistics and results stay on your own computer before, during and after a subscription — subscribing does not upload anything, and cancelling does not delete anything you've imported.

To have the above deleted, cancel your subscription and email support@pokerforge.app.

This website (not the app)

Everything above describes the PokerForge desktop app. This website, pokerforge.app, is a separate thing: a normal marketing site, and — unlike the app — it does use standard advertising measurement when you arrive from a paid ad campaign, so we can tell whether an ad led to a download. That currently means the Reddit Pixel and Google Ads (via Google's gtag.js), each tied to the ad platform you actually arrived from. It also uses GoatCounter, a privacy-focused analytics service, to see overall visit counts and which sites link here — GoatCounter doesn't use cookies and doesn't track you individually across visits or other websites. None of these ever involve your poker data, your hero identity, or anything from inside the app — they only ever see that a browser visited this website and, if applicable, clicked a download link.

Changes to this policy

Material changes will be noted in the in-app "What's New" popup shown after an update, and in the version history published alongside each release.

Contact

support@pokerforge.app