Despite my post about the weaknesses in the SSHe starting hand chart this morning, I'm certain preflop charts have helped me to play far better as a beginner than I ever could have without them.

But are there also tools that are harmful for beginners? I suggest HUDs like PokerAce. Let me say right off that I mean no harm to the guy who does PokerAce: it's a terrific product in terms of how well it works and it's very reasonably priced. I'm a Windows programmer in my day job and I have great respect for what he's done: nice piece of work.

But recently I stopped using it and started playing 1 or at most 2 tables and carefully keeping track of people's actions (using my brain and an old-fashioned pencil and paper). I think it's made me a better player. If nothing else, it causes me to think about other player's behavior all the time, rather than just glancing up and looking at the little numbers.

Should beginners avoid HUD products for a while? What do other people think?