As you gain experience in online poker and move up the stakes, you should constantly be looing to gain edges on your opponents and find ways to beat them. One of the most important tools you can use to accimplish this is a poker hud.
A HUD (heads up display) is a program which pops up and attaches itself to your online poker games, displaying vital information and statistics on the opponents at your table. The core benefits of using such software is that it improves your decision making ability and gives you better reads on players. For example, it allows me to instantly deduce the weak players from the pros by looking at their previous win-rate statistics and ROI% (return on investment). This is particular useful in table selection because the more fish sitting at your table the higher expected profits you will earn.
In terms of what exactly a HUD can do, it displays a cluster of statistics helping you judge a player's game and style. Statistics such as the VPIP% (voluntarily put money in pot) breaks down whether a player is LAG or TAG i.e. what sort of hand ranges they enter pots with pre-flop. Against a player with a 10% VPIP, I can discern that he is extremely tight-aggressive so I will avoid bluffing against him on the flop or 3betting him from late position to steal the blinds. Similarly, the 3bet%, PFR% (pre-flop raise) and RFI% (raised first in) deduces how strong a player's relative holding is. Someone 3betting 10% of the time for example will be re-raising with QJ+, 1010+. On the other hand, an opponent with a 5% 3bet stat will be raising with premium hands JJ+ and QK+ only.
Of course, there are many other benefits to using a HUD with poker tracking software. Most of these tools are fully customisable allowing you to have the information that you choose is most relevant to be dispayed.
In tems of recommending a HUD, I would say that anyone serious about making money in online poker or playing at NL50+ in cash games (or $10+ buy-ins for tournaments) should buy one. They are especially useful for multi-tabling as normally you can focus less concentration on each table, and the stats from this tool generally cover up the gaps.
A HUD (heads up display) is a program which pops up and attaches itself to your online poker games, displaying vital information and statistics on the opponents at your table. The core benefits of using such software is that it improves your decision making ability and gives you better reads on players. For example, it allows me to instantly deduce the weak players from the pros by looking at their previous win-rate statistics and ROI% (return on investment). This is particular useful in table selection because the more fish sitting at your table the higher expected profits you will earn.
In terms of what exactly a HUD can do, it displays a cluster of statistics helping you judge a player's game and style. Statistics such as the VPIP% (voluntarily put money in pot) breaks down whether a player is LAG or TAG i.e. what sort of hand ranges they enter pots with pre-flop. Against a player with a 10% VPIP, I can discern that he is extremely tight-aggressive so I will avoid bluffing against him on the flop or 3betting him from late position to steal the blinds. Similarly, the 3bet%, PFR% (pre-flop raise) and RFI% (raised first in) deduces how strong a player's relative holding is. Someone 3betting 10% of the time for example will be re-raising with QJ+, 1010+. On the other hand, an opponent with a 5% 3bet stat will be raising with premium hands JJ+ and QK+ only.
Of course, there are many other benefits to using a HUD with poker tracking software. Most of these tools are fully customisable allowing you to have the information that you choose is most relevant to be dispayed.
In tems of recommending a HUD, I would say that anyone serious about making money in online poker or playing at NL50+ in cash games (or $10+ buy-ins for tournaments) should buy one. They are especially useful for multi-tabling as normally you can focus less concentration on each table, and the stats from this tool generally cover up the gaps.
