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HUDs Up: How to Interpret Your Opponent’s Poker Stats

If you are wanting to increase your online poker profits, then you can use poker tracking software and Big Stack University will help you learn more. While programs like Poker Tracker and Hold’em Manager will give you accurate detail of your wins and losses, and keep track of your opponent’s move, HUD (heads up display) will convert that information for you into easy-to-understand stats. It overlays your poker table with information about how each of your opponents has played in the past.

When you are deciding to bet, check or fold, you can take a look at how your opponents have played in a similar situation. Are they an extremely tight player? Are they a maniac who re-raises constantly pre-flop?

What information does Poker HUD display?

If you can think of a tough decision in poker, it is a safe bet that a HUD has a statistic for that exact situation. Let’s explain this with an example. You raise preflop with AJ and get 3-bet by an opponent (a 3-bet is when your opponent re-raises you preflop). Does your opponent have aces? Kings? Or is he likely to have bluffs, like 56 suited and A5 suited? Your HUD will show you the percentage of times that your opponent is re-raising preflop from each specific position.

How does HUD work?

• Your HUD collects information from the hand histories and displays your opponent’s poker statistics in the form of percentages that you can view as you play.
• As soon as a hand finishes, the HUD automatically takes data from the hand history and updates your opponent’s statistics.

How To Read A Poker HUD: Preflop Stats

VPIP %

• The average total of the time your opponent puts money in the pot.
• The higher a player’s VPIP, the looser the player will be. And the lower the VPIP, the tighter the player.

PFR %

• The pre-flop raise stats define how your opponent raises before the flop.
• Most players’ PFR falls between 4-6% of their VPIP. So, if they have played 20 VPIP, their PFR will be 14-19%.
• The bigger the gap between VPIP and PFR, the more often a player cold calls.

3B %

• This is how often your opponent re-raises pre-flop.

F3 %

• This means how often your opponent folds to 3 bets.
• For example, a player with a very close VPIP and PFR is also normally going to have a higher 3-bet% because he is cold-calling less often.
• Conversely, a player with a wide gap between his VPIP and PFR will have quite wide cold-calling range and thus they may have many weak hands in that range.

How To Read A Poker HUD: Post-Flop Stats

AG

• It tells how aggressive your opponents play.
• Most players fall in between 1-3. Anything less is passive, and anything more is aggressive.
• If a player with a 0.5 AG is playing back at you, he’s probably not bluffing, and you would need a very good hand to continue.
• If someone with a 6 AG is playing back at you, your top pair is starting to look pretty good.

WTSD %

• This is how often your opponent’s go to showdown after seeing the flop.
• Most players fall between 20 and 32%. So, if your opponents have low WTSD it can mean two things: He either folds very often before showdown or he makes his opponents fold before the showdown.
• You must examine WTSD and his aggression stat to get an idea of how he plays.
• For example, a good way to tell is to use WTSD in conjunction with AG. If your opponent is passive and doesn’t go to showdown often, he’s weak tight.
• If your opponent is aggressive and has a low WTSD, he is making people fold before showdown.
• If your opponent shows down 35% or more, he’s showdown happy.

CB

• This says how often your opponent continuation bets on the flop as the pre-flop raiser.
• Most players continuation-bet on the flop between 55% – 88% of the time.
• The lower the player’s PFR %, the higher the player’s CB%
• The reason being, the fewer hands the player is raising pre-flop, the stronger the hands. The stronger the hand pre-flop, the more often he’ll make strong hands worth betting on the flop.

2B

• This explains how often your opponent second barrels as the pre-flop raiser when his flop C-bet is called.
• It must be in conjunction with the CB stat.
• You can easily identify your opponents as one-and-done player if they have got a high flop C-bet and a low turn C-bet. And then floating becomes your best friend.

FC

• This says how your opponents fold to flop continuation bets.
• Used in conjunction with the VPIP stat, you can really get a feel for a player’s overall game.
• And if you want to find out the fish on the table, observe if they have got a large VPIP and small FC they’ll be seeing a lot of flops and a lot of turns.
• Or if he has a low FC, you can use the pop-up stat and look at his bet-when-checked-to stat. If that is high, then you’ve found an opponent who loves to float.

 F2

• This signifies how often your opponent folds to a second barrel.
• You can easily tell the player has a low FC stat and F2 stat if they love to call on pre-flop and flop. However, they won’t continue past the turn without a decent hand.
• You can fire more often on the second barrel to win over such players.

If you are spending a significant amount of time playing poker, then HUD is the best investment you can make into your game. Whether you are a recreational player who only has time for a couple of hours of cash games or a few tournaments a week or a hardcore grinder, an HUD is a necessity in today’s online games in order to achieve your full potential as a poker player.

Wanting to master your poker skills? Then learn these tips and tricks from India’s most successful poker course Big Stack University! For more such lessons, stay tuned to GutshotMagazine.com and stay tuned!

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