Want to maximize your win-rate?
Then you always need to be on the lookout for ways to exploit your opponents. One😗 of the best ways to do that is by using a HUD with poker statistics.
What is a HUD in poker?
Short😗 for Heads-Up Display, a HUD is a tool used in online poker games to track and display opponents’ poker statistics😗 in real time. PokerTracker 4, Hold’em Manager 2, and DriveHUD are examples of poker hand tracking programs that include a😗 HUD.
Playing with a HUD can give you a big edge if used correctly. Using it properly, though, is not something😗 that comes easily. Every time we are dealing with poker statistics, it’s very easy to misinterpret them and deduct incorrectly,😗 in which case a HUD can actually decrease your edge.
Here is an example of what a HUD can look like😗 on screen:
If these numbers seem overwhelming, don’t worry. In this article I am going to go over 10 of the😗 most important stats you should include on your HUD, either on the main display or in a pop-up.
I’ll also go😗 over an advanced HUD stat stack using the 4th, 5th, and 6th stats on this list. That stat stack is😗 explained at the end of the 6th stat on this list (right here).
Let’s jump into it!
The 10 Most Important Poker😗 Statistics for Your HUD
Click any of these stats to jump to a fundamental explanation of what it is, why it’s😗 important, and how to use it:
Note: Learn step-by-step how to become the best player at the table when you join😗 the Upswing Lab training course. Elite pros have been adding new content every week for the past four years, and😗 you get all of it when you join. Learn more now!
1. VPIP: Voluntarily Put [Money] Into Pot
This is a must-have😗 stat on your HUD.
VPIP shows you how often your opponent has voluntarily put money into the pot preflop, either by😗 raising or calling. This is fundamental information for player profiling, especially when correlated with Preflop Raise (PFR).
A player that has😗 at least a basic preflop understanding will generally VPIP around 20-30% of the time in a 6-handed game, with 25%😗 being very close to the norm. If a player is playing significantly less hands, they are probably a nit. And😗 if they are playing a lot more hands, they are likely a recreational player.
You will need around 300 hands on😗 this player to be confident enough in what the stat shows you. That said, players on either extreme can oftentimes😗 be identified sooner. For example, if a player has a 70% VPIP after 50 hands, it is very likely they😗 are a loose recreational player.
2. PFR: Preflop Raise
PFR tells you how often a player has entered the pot preflop by😗 raising. This includes raising first in, 3-betting, and cold 4/5-betting.
This statistic creates even more context for your opponent’s preflop strategy.😗 When used in conjunction with VPIP, it will be enough to form a player profile.
A player that has at least😗 a basic understanding of preflop strategy will have between 15-25% preflop raise, with 19% being close to the norm.
Similarly to😗 VPIP, you will need around 300 hands on this player to be confident enough in the number you are seeing.
3.😗 3-Bet
This is an important stat to have in your arsenal as it shows how often your opponent 3-bets before the😗 flop. It will prove useful for building both your preflop opening ranges and your defending range against your opponent’s 3-bet.
A😗 good overall 3-betting frequency will be something around 6-10%, with 8% being close to the average for good players.
Some adjustments😗 that you can make vs tight or loose 3-bettors are:
When a very aggressive 3-bettor is behind, open-raise a slightly tighter😗 range than usual.
With only tight 3-bettors behind, you can profitably open-raise a slightly wider range.
When you face a 3-bet from😗 an aggressive player, continue more often by 4-betting and calling with more hands than usual.
For an accurate read on the😗 stat, you will need around 1000 hands on a player.
4. WTSD: Went To Showdown
This is a very important postflop statistic😗 that tells you how frequently a player reaches showdown after seeing a flop. It is useful for identifying how much😗 of a calling station your opponent is.
For example, if a player saw the flop 10 times and went to showdown😗 4 times in a session, that player’s WTSD is 40% for that session.
This stat is to be used in conjunction😗 with Won Money at Showdown (W$SD or WSD) and Won When Saw Flop (WWSF), which I will go over shortly.
A😗 good WTSD frequency is somewhere around 27-32%, with 30% being a good place to aim for. Too low and you😗 are probably over-folding postflop; too high and you are probably calling too often.
Since the vast majority of pots do not😗 go past preflop (only 17% of hands see the flop), this stat requires a much bigger sample for an accurate😗 read to be made — aim to have around 8,000 hands on a player before making notable adjustments based on😗 WTSD.
5. WSD: Won Money at Showdown
Also abbreviated as W$SD, this stat tells you how often your opponent has won when😗 they reached showdown. As alluded to above, this stat isn’t too helpful on his own, but it can be helpful😗 when used in conjunction with WTSD.
A good W$SD is somewhere between 49% and 54%. A correct frequency is dependent on😗 the other two statistics mentioned. For example, a player who has a low Went to Showdown (WTSD) frequency will usually😗 have a relatively high WSD and vice versa. In other words, if you rarely reach showdown, it’s probably because you’re😗 a tight player who usually has a strong hand when you go the distance in a hand.
In general, if your😗 WSD is too low, then it means you are probably calling too many bad hands and/or bluffing too much earlier😗 in the hand. If it’s too high, it means that you are probably either not bluff-catching enough and/or not bluffing😗 enough.
The sample required for a decently accurate read is the same as WTSD, above 8,000 hands.
6. WWSF: Won When Saw😗 Flop
Tying up the 3 statistics that work together…
WWSF refers to how often your opponent has won the pot after seeing😗 the flop.
A decent WWSF frequency is anywhere between 45% and 53%, with a good average being around 48%. Too low?😗 That means that your opponent is not bluffing enough and/or giving up too much. Too high? That means that you😗 are bluffing and/or bluff-catching too much.
The sample required for a reasonably accurate read is the same as the one for😗 the previous two: 8,000 or more hands.
How WTSD, WSD, and WWSF Work Together Each one of these stats provide important😗 context for the others, which will allow you to draw major conclusions about your opponents. Let’s consider a few example😗 players. (Remember that: WTSD = Went To Showdown, WSD = Won Money At Showdown, and WWSF = Won When Saw😗 Flop) Player A: WTSD: 32 / WSD: 51 / WWSF: 46 This player is more or less a passive calling😗 station. He has a high WTSD, but he’s apparently calling pretty light to since he’s only winning 51% of the😗 time at showdown. He’s also not very aggressive, hence the low WWSF. The degree to which Player A is a😗 calling station will be clearer by looking at his VPIP. A high VPIP, like 40%, means this player plays a😗 lot of hands and doesn’t do much folding postflop. Your adjustment against such a player should be to go for😗 more thin value bets and fewer bluffs. Player B: WTSD: 26/ WSD: 56/ WWSF: 44 This type of player rarely😗 goes to showdown, but it’s clearly not due to aggression because he also has a low WWSF. Player B is😗 likely a quite tight player who folds quite often postflop — a conclusion we can draw from his high WSD.😗 Player C: WTSD: 30/ WSD: 52/ WWSF: 49 Assuming this player has decent preflop stats (~25% VPIP), Player C is😗 quite the terror at the table. She doesn’t seem to fold too much or too little based on her WTSD.😗 She’s also clearly aggressive and actively trying to steal pots, indicated by the high WWSF. Expect to face a lot😗 of tough decisions against a player like this.
7. Fold to 3-Bet After Raising
This statistic tells you how often your opponent😗 has folded to a 3-bet after raising preflop.
Important warning: When you’re adding this to your HUD, you will also see😗 a plain “Fold to 3-Bet” stat — don’t pick that one. Make sure “after raising” is specified in some way.😗 The plain fold to 3-bet stat also includes the hands in which the player hadn’t put money into the pot,😗 but had folded to a 3-bet (e.g. they fold in the big blind after the cutoff raised and the button😗 3-bet).
This stat should be further sub-divided into Out of Position (OOP) and In Position (IP) because the correct frequencies are😗 different for each of them. Given the same 3-bet size, you should fold more when OOP than when IP because😗 of the power that being in position grants you (realizing equity better).
The appropriate folding frequencies are somewhere around 40-45% when😗 IP and 45-50% when OOP.
The sample size needed here is around 1,500 hands.
8. Preflop Squeeze
Preflop squeeze tells you how often😗 a player has re-raised after another player has raised first in and someone else cold-called. This stat is useful for😗 determining how much you should defend against 3-bet squeezes.
A typical squeeze frequency is around 7-9%. This means that if you😗 see someone rocking a 12% squeeze, for example, you can start calling and 4-betting lighter.
The sample needed here is pretty😗 high, upwards of 3,000 hands or so, due to how rare the situation is.
9. Flop C-Bet
This statistic refers to how😗 often a player has continuation bet (c-bet) on the flop after raising preflop. This stat needs to be divided into😗 3-bet pots and single raised pots and then further sub-divided into In Position and Out of Position.
Without going into too😗 much detail (as it’s a complex topic and beyond the scope of this article), there can be large fluctuations in😗 what the correct frequencies are for each of them.
In general, it’s better to have a high flop c-bet when in😗 position and when out of position in 3-bet pots (50-70%, but lower can be good as well). It’s usually better😗 to be on the lower side when out of position in single raised pots (0-30%, but higher can be good😗 too).
The sample size is not that important here since the fluctuations can be huge. What is important, however, is getting😗 a general sense of what your opponent’s approach is. If you really want a figure, I’d estimate you need at😗 least a few thousand hands on a player to make this stat reliable.
10. Fold to Flop C-bet
Fold to Flop C-Bet😗 tells you how often a player has called a raise preflop and then folded to a continuation bet on the😗 flop. As with Flop C-bet, this stat needs to be divided for single raised pots and 3-bet pots and then😗 further sub-divided into In Position and Out of Position.
The correct frequency will depend on the bet size that is used,😗 so it’s hard to give precise numbers to look/aim for. Generally speaking, the folding frequency should be on the lower😗 side — below 50%.
The sample size is not that important since the fluctuations are big depending on bet sized used😗 on average. If you really want a figure, I’d (again) estimate you need at least a few thousand hands on😗 a player to make this stat reliable.
Final Thoughts
These 10 poker stats (more like 18 when you include all of the😗 sub-stats) are the must have numbers that you should include on your HUD.
I will end this article by professing that😗 you should not over-rely on poker statistics. It’s very easy to come up with very erroneous conclusions if the sample😗 size is too small, and that will lead to poor plays based on unreliable evidence.
Furthermore, it’s important to realize that😗 regulars play differently against recreational players than they do against other regulars, so you may get untrustworthy information even if😗 the sample seems big enough. Thankfully, some software, such as Hand2Note, has a function that allows you to exclude Regular😗 vs Recreational hands from the statistics, resulting in cleaner data.
That’s all for this article! Please drop any questions or feedback😗 in the comments below.
If you want to learn a super quick and effective way to identify leaks in your opponents’😗 games, read How to Destroy Your Opponent After Seeing One Showdown.
The method you’ll learn in that article works great in😗 live games as well as online, though I don’t expect many live players have reached this point of an online😗 HUD article 😁.
Till’ next time, good luck, grinders!
Note: Ready to join 5,000+ players currently upgrading their No Limit Hold’em skills?😗 Crush your competition with the expert strategies you will learn inside the Upswing Lab training course. Learn more now!
