Using a HUD

A HUD is a Heads-up display that let’s you see data that you have collected on your opponents (and your own data). The HUD is presenting data that has been collected by your Poker tracking software. The data is overlayed on your poker tables, so you can see it without taking your eyes away from the action.

This can give you a lot of information on how your opponents tend to play and can help guiding your decisions.

Usually a HUD has two sets of data (or more), one over the table and a pop-up that shows when you click on the overlay.

If you have not used a HUD before I recommend a simple set-up showing the most basic things. And the pop-up can wait until you are more comfortable with the use of a HUD.

First of all, a small disclaimer. It is easy to get carried away with all the very detailed information you can get on how opponents play.  Some really great players are playing successfully without a HUD and actually advice against using one. You should always judge decisions more on hand ranges, game flow and how the hand plays out than on detailed stats on your opponent. The data sample might be to small, might not be relevant in this exact situation, opponent might have changed their play etc. That being said, I personally believe a HUD can be very useful if used correctly. It should normally be used as a small part of what is influencing your decisions (just like a tell in a live game).

The number in parenthesis indicates the number of hands that are needed before the data starts to be reliable. If the opponent is extreme in some sense half this number can give an indication. But otherwise it is better to assume the opponent is average until you have more data.

All stat intervals mentioned below are made of extensive data analysis of hundreds of thousands of players and more than 5 million hands on $1-2 Full Ring and 6-Max. The intervals are based on the most successful players with more than 30 000 hands of data. Optimal play might of course be different on significantly higher or significantly lower limits.

Basic set-up

Name

The name of the player to make sure your looking at the right stats.

Number of hands

You need to know the number of hands so you can judge the quality of the data. Different stats take different amounts of data to become meaningful. For example with only 10 hands, none of the data will have any value. With 50 hands VPIP and PFR can start making some sense. Aggression might take hundreds of hands.

VPIP (100 hands)

Voluntarily put money in the pot.

This shows how money hands the player plays preflop.

A good player normally has a VPIP between 12-20 % in Full Ring and 15-25 % in 6-max.

This stat helps you establish the players hand range. It should be used in combination with PFR since the strongest hands are normally raised.

PFR (100 hands)

Preflop raise

This shows how often the player is raising preflop.

A good player normally has a PFR between 10-15 % in Full Ring and 15-20 % in 6-max.

Helps you establish the range of hands opponent is raising with.

AF (300 hands)

Aggression Factor.

Shows how often the player raises or bets compared to how often he calls.

A good player normally has an AF between 2,5-3,5 both in Full Ring and in 6-max.

This can be somewhat difficult to use, but it shows general aggression. The most obvious use is when someone with very low aggression (< 1,5)  is raising and betting like crazy. That means a really strong hand most of the time.

Advanced set-up

You can use color coding to display when people are out of the norm to easier spot things to exploit.

Cold call % preflop  (300 hands)

How often the opponent is cold calling before the flop. Cold calling means calling a raise when you are not in the blinds.

A good player normally cold calls 5-9 % preflop in Full Ring. And a lot more on the button than in other positions.

This stat helps you judge what hand range the player is having after he cold calls a raise.

3-Bet % preflop  (300 hands)

How often the opponent is 3-Betting before the flop.

A good player normally has a 3-Bet % 3-6 % preflop in Full Ring.

Helps you judge the range of hands he is 3-Betting with.

Fold to 3-Bet preflop (1000 hands)

How often the opponent is folding to 3-Bets before the flop.

A good player normally has a fold to 3-Bet % 70-80 % preflop in Full Ring, but it depends a lot on how light opponents are 3-Betting.

Helps you decide whether to 4-Bet or not.

4-Bet preflop (1000)

How often the opponent is 4-Betting before the flop.

A good player normally 4-Bets 6-9 % preflop in Full Ring, but it depends a lot on how light opponents are 3-Betting.

Be careful with this, since it takes a huge amount of data to become meaningful.

Attention to steal % (300 hands)

How often the opponent is stealing from Cutoff, Button and small blind.

A good player normally has an ATS 25-35 % in Full Ring.

Fold big blind to steal (300 hands)

How often the opponent is folding big blind to steals (open raise from cutoff, button and small blind). This generally give you a good idea of how often they fold in small blind as well (more often).

A good player normally folds big blind to steal 70-85 % in Full Ring.

BB Raise Steal  (300 hands)

Went to showdown. How often a player reraises steal attempts when in the big blind.

A good player normally has a BB raise steal 7-10 % in Full Ring.

Squeeze preflop (1000 hands)

How often the player takes the opportunity to squeeze preflop. Squeezing means 3-Betting when there has been a raise and one or more callers.

A good player normally squeezes 3-6 % in Full Ring.

Isolation raise (1000 hands)

How often a player is raising when there are limpers in the pot. This is often called isolation raise, but it is somewhat misleading since you will frequently be even happier if you win the pot right away.

A good player normally raises limpers 13-17 % of the time.

c-Bets on flop and turn (1000 hands)

How often the opponent is continuation betting.

A good player normally c-bets between 60-75 % on the flop in Full Ring and 35-50 % on the turn.

Checkraise flop (1000 hands)

How often the opponent is checkraising on the flop. It could also be used on other streets, but it takes a lot of hands to converge and can easily be misleading so it might be better to use the flop as a more general indication.

A good player normally folds big blind to steal 70-85 % in Full Ring.

Fold flop (1000 hands)

How often the opponent folds on the flop. Some prefer using fold to c-bet on flop instead, but personally I prefer the more general Fold flop to get an idea on if they will be easy to get rid of by c-betting, donk betting or raising. And it converges faster.

A good player normally folds on the flop 28-32 % in Full Ring.

WTSD (1000 hands)

Went to showdown. How often a player goes to showdown when they have seen the flop.

A good player normally has a WTSD 22-27 % in Full Ring.

Winrate – BB/100 (30 000 hands)

BB/100 means big bets per 100 hands, not big blinds. A big bet is twice the size of the big blind. This has historical reasons.


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