Why this page exists
Whether a tool is permitted is not my decision. It is the poker room's. So instead of claiming approval, this page states precisely what the software does technically, and what each network has answered once they have. If a room tells me CoreSpade is not welcome, I remove support for that room. That commitment is also part of our Terms of Service.
What CoreSpade does on every network
- Arranges and resizes table windows into layouts you define.
- Moves tables into dedicated slots when you sit out or bust.
- Maps table actions to keys you choose - for example Fold, Check, Call, Bet/Raise, All-in and preset bet sizes, as well as window actions such as opening a table's replayer or its tournament lobby.
- Draws a coloured frame around a table to mark its state - such as when it is your turn to act, when you are sitting out, or when a table is busted. An optional reverse mode dims the inactive tables instead.
- Optionally closes software that poker rooms prohibit, while a client is running.
What CoreSpade never does
- It does not read hole cards, board cards, stack sizes or opponent actions.
- It does not decide anything. Every action comes from a key you press.
- It contains no odds calculator, no equity tool, no solver and no link to one.
- It has no automated play and no timer-based actions.
- It keeps no opponent database and shows no statistics during play.
How it reads the table
On every network except one, CoreSpade stays completely outside the poker client. It captures the contents of a table window through the Windows Graphics Capture API (the same public interface used by screen recording software) and compares colour values at a small number of fixed points, expressed relative to the window size. From that it derives three things only: is it your turn, are you sitting out, have you busted. The captured frame is discarded immediately; nothing is stored and nothing is transmitted.
Those sample points sit on buttons and status areas. They carry no card and no player information, and there is no code in CoreSpade that could interpret one.
How it sends your input
Keystrokes go to the focused table window. Clicks are delivered as standard Windows messages to the window handle. On partypoker, whose tables are built from standard Windows controls, CoreSpade uses the documented Windows API for those controls: it reads a button caption to confirm it is the right one, then clicks it, or writes an amount into the bet field.
CoinPoker is handled differently
CoinPoker's client requires a different technical approach from every other network CoreSpade supports. The full technical detail has been put to CoinPoker's security team with the review request, and their assessment decides how the client is supported.
The tracker
CoreSpade contains an experimental results tracker. It reads the tournament summary files your poker client writes to disk and shows profit and ROI over time. Hand history files are identified by their first line and skipped, so they are never parsed.
Stored per tournament: buy-in, rake, bounty, re-entries, field size, prize pool, and your own finishing position and winnings. No player names, no hands, no statistics about anyone else. It is a results overview, closer to a spreadsheet than to a database tool, and it is not essential to the product.
Status per network
| Network | Method | Review status |
|---|---|---|
| PokerStars | External only | under review, demonstration requested 22 August 2026 |
| GGPoker | External only | review requested 20 August 2026 |
| 888poker | External only | review requested 21 August 2026 |
| partypoker | External, Windows control API | review requested 20 August 2026 |
| Winning Poker Network | External only | review requested 22 August 2026 |
| iPoker | External only | review requested 20 August 2026 |
| CoinPoker | Client-specific, disclosed | review requested 20 August 2026 |
Status values: not yet contacted, review requested [date], under review, contact attempted: no working channel, no reply for [n] days, approved, approved with conditions, declined, support removed.
PokerStars Game Integrity replied on 22 August 2026 and opened a review, asking for a recorded demonstration of the tool. That recording is being produced. No assessment has been issued yet, and this line will say so plainly either way.
On 888poker the published support address bounces. The request was delivered through 888 Germany instead, and receipt was confirmed on 21 August 2026.
If you are a player
The question behind this page is a simple one: can using CoreSpade cost me my account? Here is the honest answer.
Before release I sent each of the seven networks a full technical disclosure (what CoreSpade reads, how it sends your input, and what it deliberately does not do) and asked for a compliance review. Those requests are dated and the sent messages are archived; the table above shows when each one went out. No network has objected. This page is updated as soon as any of them replies.
Most of them will probably never reply, and that is worth saying openly rather than leaving a date to age on the table above. Integrity teams are staffed to review player reports, not to answer questions from tool developers; for the latter there is often no process at all. Silence is the ordinary outcome, not a verdict. That is why this page reports dates and quotes published rules instead of drawing conclusions nobody has handed me.
I am not claiming approval. None of these networks has granted it, and I will not describe silence as consent. What I can point to is the rules the networks publish themselves. Three of them name what CoreSpade does as permitted, word for word:
- Winning Poker Network: "Hotkey tools that enhance or abbreviate your actions through specific keyboard commands" and "Table arranger tools that tile up tables based on player preferences."
- CoinPoker: "Table management tools can help players with window placement, table focus, or table organization" and "Hotkey tools can simplify mouse or keyboard inputs, making actions more precise and convenient."
- PokerStars: "Macros and Hotkey programs for gameplay efficiency that do not reduce the requirement of a player having to make a decision", with the published example that "a hotkey that bets half the pot is permitted."
None of them operates a whitelist, and PokerStars states plainly that its examples are "not intended to be exhaustive". The remaining networks neither list this category as permitted nor prohibit it. On iPoker, for instance, multi-tabling software is not mentioned in the prohibited-software policy at all. That is precisely why the disclosure went out: I would rather ask and be told no than assume.
So the risk is not zero, and nobody can honestly tell you that it is. What I can tell you is how I handle it: if a network ever objects, support for that network is removed and users are told, without undue delay and in plain sight: on this page, and wherever else it reaches people at the time. I will not quietly keep shipping something a network has asked me to stop. An approval is not mine to give; telling you plainly where things stand is.
For review teams
If you work for one of these networks and want to verify any claim on this page, write from a company address to [email protected]. You get the build and a licence key so your team can test it rather than take my word for it, and the source code under a confidentiality agreement. I would rather have your assessment than your assumption.