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HUD

How to Quickly Understand Online Tournament Players – Podcast #318

By Sky Matsuhashi on November 18, 2020

A few weeks ago, listener Sherri Cook sent me this question about understanding tournament players:

I’m loving your podcast, Sky. I just subscribed and now I’m going through your back catalog and learning a ton.

I love playing cash games where I can use my long history with opponents against them. I play with many players online day after day, and this gives me a great understanding of them that I use to exploit them. But, I’ve just started playing online tournaments and it’s really tough because I don’t know any of my opponents and it takes a long time to really develop HUD stats. Can you help me out?

Absolutely! And thanks for the question and kind words, Sherri.

It sounds like you already know how to exploit your opponents based on what you know about them. So, I’m not going to go into how to exploit tournament players.

I’m going to answer your question with the goal of helping you gain quick clarity on their player type and tendencies so that you can use your existing exploits against them.

Come play with me this Saturday the 21st of November in my $1.10 Rebuy Tournament on Americas Cardroom.

Listen to this podcast episode:

Tournament Players are Like Any Other

The first thing to know is that cash game players are the same as tournament players. They have tendencies and they have weaknesses. They can be loose and play a lot of hands, or tight and wait for stronger hands. They can be passive and love to see flops and catch draws, or they can be aggressive and make loads of bets and raises. So, your reads on players can be exploited exactly the same in tournaments as in cash games.

The only real difference in understanding online tournament players versus cash game players is that you must learn all you can about them as soon as possible.

Pay Attention to EVERY Hand

You must gain as much information as quickly as possible, and the best way to do this is to watch every action, even when you fold your hand.

You MUST NOT allow yourself to be distracted by too many other tournaments or cash games. You must also keep outside distractions turned off: Netflix, Twitch or a podcast (even this one).

Learn the Easy Way

Paying attention to the action also helps you learn things the easy way, not the hard way. If Bob123 makes a min3bet against Susan789, you might read this tiny bet size as Bob being a weak, recreational player. But, if at showdown he shows AA, you know he’s a bit wily and capable of deceptive play. Susan learned this the hard way when she lost her stack. But because you were paying attention, you learned the same thing she did without losing your tournament life.

Revealing Actions

You must be on the lookout for plays that quickly reveal the type of player are. So, which actions quickly help you characterize tournament players?

Preflop:

Limping and Calling – the weakest, most passive players limp and call a lot. They like seeing flops and are likely calling stations. They have a really wide and weak preflop ranges with the goal of striking gold on the flop with straights, flushes and sets.

Raising First In, Iso-raising and 3betting – These are aggressive preflop actions and players who do these often are likely TAG or LAG players. They probably steal a lot and punish other stealers and limpers with their raises.

Post-flop:

Frequent Callers – they call a ton and never fold, so they’re stations who give too much value to their opponents. Plus, it’s harder to bluff them off especially on wet boards with lots of draw potential. They chase every draw and they think their TP or 2nd pair can catch your bluff.

Cbettors and Raisers – They use aggression against you if they think you can fold. Sometimes you fight back and they can win all your chips when they happen to have a great hand. They use position and larger stacks against you by threatening your tournament life.

Take Notes and Tag ‘em

As you notice these revealing actions, take notes on a piece of paper or in the PokerTracker 4 Note Editor. I prefer the paper notes for tournaments because it’s quick and easy to write ‘em down and refer to them in future hands.

You must also color code tournament players accordingly as soon as you make a read. Color coding their player box or their HUD helps you to plan for how to play against them a bit quicker. I use these color codes:

  • Loose-passive Fish: Green
  • Super Tight Nits: Red
  • Loose-aggressive and Maniacs: Orange
  • Tight-aggressive, strong and capable: Yellow

Showdowns

There’s nothing better than showdown to totally illuminate the tournament players you’re up against. That’s why you should always muck your losing hand at showdown.

Not many hands in the early and middle stages are gonna reach showdown. But when they do, your eyes must be glued to what they show and you must replay the action of the hand. This means you must have paid attention to every play they made through the streets.

For example, somebody showing down J8s means different things based on prior actions:

  • What if the preflop 3bettor showed J8s? Well, this indicates a very aggressive 3bettor who probably targets his opponents well with his 3bet bluffs. It’s a good idea to think back and make a judgment based on the sizing he used as well.
  • What if the preflop caller in the HJ showed J8s? Calling in the HJ with 4 other players still to act indicates a super loose-passive and weak player. He’s not even thinking about the players left to act, he just wants to see the flop and hit a flush or straight with his suited 2-gapper.
  • What if the BTN open-raiser showed J8s after cbetting with TPWK on the flop then checking the turn and river? She’s probably tight-aggressive. She’s capable of stealing often but pot controls post-flop with a vulnerable TP hand.
  • What if the BB caller showed J8s after check-calling large flop and turn bets with a gut shot draw, then shoving all-in when he rivered his straight? He’s a calling station willing to overpay for weak draws.

Bet Sizing

Bet sizing is a critical piece of information to think about.

If all I told you was that “HubbaHubbaZoe” made a preflop 3bet, what kind of player is Zoe? If that’s all the info you had to go on, you might say she’s probably loose-aggressive.

But, what if told you she made a min-3bet to only 5bb’s after I open-raised to 3bb’s?

Well now, you have more information to work with. So, what kind of player is she?

She’s still probably loose-aggressive, but she doesn’t really know what she’s doing. She’s probably a recreational player. She’s making it too easy for me to call, so she’s missing value with her best hands like AA. And because it’s too easy for me to call, her bluff with J8s is never working. A min-3bet like this is an ineffectual size, and that indicates a weak player.

And post-flop bet sizing? You can get the best reads here earlier in the tournament before there are too many post-flop all-ins.

In general, smaller bets of 1bb up to 1/3 pot indicate weak attempts to bluff or block you from betting bigger. These indicate weaker players most often. As bets get larger in relation to the pot, especially ½ to ¾ pot, these players are hitting your pain threshold with their bluff and value bets, so they more likely know what they’re doing.

If you ever see a “weird” bet size, take note. Combine this “weird” bet sizing with everything else you know about them to gauge what you think they’re trying to do.

HUD Stats and Exploiting at the Extremes

Because you’re an online player, you have the advantage of PokerTracker 4 and HUD stats.

Every HUD stat is potentially useful, but the most useful ones are VPIP and PFR. They accumulate with every hand dealt so continue using them just like you do in cash games. Look for high and low percentages and pay attention to that gap between the two. Even over just 10 hands, VPIP and PFR can clue you in to their player type.

The key to using HUD stats for tournament players is to “exploit at the extremes”. So, over just 10 hands Bob123 might be a 100/0 player. He’s voluntarily put money into the pot in all 10 of his first hands without raising at all. That means he’s called or limped in his first 10 hands >>> Mega Fish!

His stats show an extreme tendency towards calling preflop. You can easily use this extreme tendency against him.

What about somebody who has cbet 4/4 times at 100%? Well, he’s most likely cbetting his 5th opportunity, right? What about another player who has cbet 0/4 times? Yep, totally honest flop cbettor and you can expect him to have a pair or better if he cbets at his 5th opportunity.

Besides VPIP and PFR, the other most useful tournament stats are:

  • Fold to Steal
  • 3bet
  • Call Preflop 2bet
  • Cbet Flop
  • Fold to Flop Cbet

These are the most common plays and situations tournament players face, so these accumulate the quickest. And, don’t forget to exploit at the extremes if the sample size is a bit small.

Challenge

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  Play with me and other SPS listeners this Saturday during my $75 Guaranteed, $1.10 buy-in Rebuy tournament on Americas Cardroom. DETAILS.

Now it’s your turn to take action and play with me in my upcoming tournament!

Use My KISS HUD to Avoid Overwhelm and Learn How to Exploit Online Poker Players

By Sky Matsuhashi on June 24, 2020

I’m going to help you learn to use a heads up display with my stripped-down, simplified KISS HUD for online poker.

It’s called the KISS HUD because I’m a huge fan of the KISS Principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid! This 10-element HUD makes it easy to avoid overwhelm while learning to use a HUD to exploit your opponents.

The 10 Elements of the KISS HUD

Listen to Podcast Episode #291 about using the KISS HUD:

I love HUD’s. I tell everyone that they must get PokerTracker 4 and use a HUD to help gain additional information on their opponents. Information is power, and HUD users have more information than non-HUD users do.

Of course, I recommend my Smart HUD for PT4 (comes with a 1.5 hour instructional webinar) above all others. But for beginning HUD users, it can be a bit daunting with the 18 elements in the HUD and the 7 custom popups. Trying to learn to use a robust HUD like this often leads overwhelm.

I believe in the old adage, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” I’m not going to give you this HUD to download and import into PT4. Instead, in an effort to teach you how to fish, I’ve created a video showing you how to create the KISS HUD for yourself in under 5 minutes.

Follow along in PokerTracker 4 and create your own KISS HUD with this video:

Now that you’ve created your own HUD, let’s dive into how you can use it to exploit your opponents.


The KISS HUD readout for “Tight Terry”

1st Line:  Note Editor / # of Hands

2nd Line:  VPIP / PFR

3rd Line: 3bet / Fold to 3bet

4th Line: Cbet F / Cbet T

5th Line: Fold to F Cbet / Fold to T Cbet


VPIP (13%)

Voluntarily Put $ in the Pot lets you know how active an opponent is. This guy is pretty tight because 13% as a total is only 1/8 hands played. So, he’s likely a TAG or Nit. This information is useful, but it needs to be coupled with PFR for maximum effectiveness.

PFR (12%)

Pre-flop Raise is an indication of how aggressive an opponent is because it accounts for every type of preflop raise; open-raises and isolation raises, 3bets and 4bets or higher. At 12% total, that’s an average range of 77+, A2s+, AJo+, KQ, KJs, QJs and JTs.

Combo Stat #1: VPIP-PFR Gap

Tight Terry is a 13/12 player. The 1% gap between VPIP and PFR tells us that he hardly ever calls preflop. So, what hands does an infrequent caller call with? Pocket pairs for set mining and the strongest broadway hands. So, if he calls your cbet on a QJ2 board, it’s more likely he’s holding some broadway hands (he’s quickly folding 44 and 55). If he calls on a 236 flop, then he likely has a set, an over pair with 88 or a draw with 44 in his range.


3bet (6%)

3bet’s happen more now than ever before, so this is a very useful stat. Anything greater than 6% and you’ve got a 3bet bluffer on your hands. Most players don’t 3bet the same ranges from every position. Tight Terry, at 6% total, probably 3bets more frequently from the BTN and one or both of the blinds as resteal 3bets. So be on the lookout for that before you raise preflop if he’s still in the pot.

Combo Stat #2: VPIP-PFR Gap and 3bet

Given that Tight Terry calls with broadway hands, but is capable of 3betting frequently, we can remove JJ+ (maybe TT) from his calling range. We can also remove AK, AQs and probably AQo as well because he’s likely 3betting those.

Fold to 3bet (57%)

Folding at 57% means he defends at 43%, which makes sense given such a small PFR %.  He doesn’t raise that often, so when he does, he doesn’t give up too easily. I prefer to see Fold to 3bet at 60% or greater for more successful 3bet bluffs.


Cbet Flop (83%)

Cbet flop tells you exactly what to expect from the player on the flop before you call their preflop raise. At 83%, you can expect Tight Terry to cbet the flop, so he bluffs a lot of flops.

Cbet Turn (22%)

Wow! Tight Terry is a mega “turn honest” player. His cbet drops from 83% on the flop to 22%, which means he only double-barrels with the best hands, probably TP+.

Combo Stat #3: Cbet Flop & Turn

These two taken together are an awesome combo that helps you exploit most cbettors. Because Tight Terry is so “turn honest”, you must call every flop cbet he makes when you suspect weakness. As soon as he checks the turn, you fire a bet to take the pot away. He’s making it super easy to bluff him when he’s the preflop raiser.


Fold to Flop Cbet (100%)

If I hover my cursor over the 100%, I can see it’s 3/3 instances. Tight Terry is extremely “flop honest” versus cbets so I must cbet 100% against this player.

Fold to Turn Cbet (-)

Since Tight Terry has folded to flop cbets 100% so far, I haven’t seen him face any turn cbets yet. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t have a plan for cbetting the turn against him. Because he makes his decision on the flop, he’ll only get to the turn with a made hand like TP+. So, I probably shouldn’t double-barrel bluff him. If he calls my flop cbet, the best play is to check the turn in hopes the river can improve my hand.


Note Editor

This is a great addition to any HUD. But, you’ll have to force yourself to add player notes and look at them occasionally as you play. But, it does have a useful auto-generated notes feature that lists the hands you’ve seen at showdown and how they played them.

Number of Hands Abbreviated (745)

The more hands you have on a player, the more reliable the stats are.  At just 20 hands you should be able to classify most opponent’s player type. Anything over 100 is good and you can start using post-flop stats here. And 500+ should give you great reads on almost every stat except river stats.

 

Here’s my challenge to you: Create your own KISS HUD today and use it in tonight’s session. Seriously, I’m teaching you how to fish! Watch the video above and just follow along and within 5 minutes, your new KISS HUD will be ready for use. It’s quick, easy and useful.


Learn Your HUD One Statistic at a Time

Even though the KISS HUD only contains the most important statistics, it might be overwhelming for players new to HUD Use.

If you know your HUD isn’t the useful, exploitative tool it should be, this next part is for you.

Here are 6 Steps to learning the KISS HUD (or any poker HUD for that matter). You’re going to do the following one stat per session to avoid overwhelm. If you follow these steps, you’ll be a master of your HUD very quickly and you’ll avoid overwhelm along the way.

Listen to Podcast Episode #293 called “Learn Your HUD Statistics One at a Time”:

Step 1: Choose ONE Stat to Focus on Today

I know you want to use the Call PF 2bet stat, the 3bet stat and the Flop Cbet stat all in the same hand. But, if you’re new to HUD usage, that kind of goal will overwhelm you.

You’ve got to take the “one until done” approach. Every day, focus on ONE statistic during your study session, hand reading exercises and your play session. This intense focus on one stat will help to ingrain its use into your skills better than trying to use multiple stats each day.

So for the rest of this post, let’s work with the idea that today you’ve chosen to improve your use of the 3bet Preflop statistic.

Step 2: Learn the Definition and the Formula

For PokerTracker 4 users, this is easy. At the top of the PokerTracker 4 window you’re gonna see a menu option called “Configure”. Click on that and then select the second option called “Statistics”. Now another window will open that contains every statistic within PokerTracker 4. For each stat it gives you the definition and the formula.

You can scroll through the stats to find the one you’re focused on, or type into the search box a part of the stat.

When you click on the statistic, you’ll be able to read the stat’s definition on the right. The definition for 3bet Preflop is, “Percentage of the time that a player 3Bet preflop given that he had a chance to do so.” This description is going to be very important in helping you learn new statistics.

Directly below the definition is the Formula. The formula will help you understand the stat a little better. For 3bet Preflop, the formula is:

Preflop 3bet = (# of 3bets Preflop) / (Number of Times Player Could 3bet Preflop).

So, if somebody’s 3bet Preflop is only 1% out of 100 opportunities, that means they’ve only 3bet once in 100 times. Quite a tight 3bettor, wouldn’t you say?

You must write down the description and the formula in your poker journal. This way you can refer to it before your session during your warm-up and then during your session to help refresh your understanding of the stat.

Step 3: Google or YouTube Search

The definition and the formula help you understand what the stat means. But they don’t tell you how to interpret or use the stat to make +EV decisions.

To learn how to use the stats, run a Google or YouTube to find some content to study.

Any statistical search will yield tons of articles and videos to study. Find one from your favorite creator and consume it. Hopefully the video or article tells you high and low percentages and how you can exploit either.

Make sure to take notes in your poker journal so that you can refer to them during your pre-session warm-up and then during the session to refresh yourself.

Step 4: Consider High versus Low Percentages

Exploit at the extremes

The closer a statistic is to zero or 100%, the easier it is to exploit it.

My color coded stat ranges for 3bet Preflop.

Let’s take 3bet Preflop:

  • If somebody 3bets at less than 1%, you know that they only do it with AA and KK. Pretty easy to fold most hands against this player, right?
  • Conversely, if somebody 3bets at 22%, you know they love to 3bet bluff and their range is full of weaker pairs, Broadways, suited Aces and other random crap that they just feel like 3bet bluffing with. Against this player, you have more opportunities to profitably call or 4bet.

For the stat you’ve chosen to focus on each day, try to come up with percentages for low, middle and high ranges.

If the content you studied didn’t give you these ranges (via #3 above), just noodle on it yourself. Think about what range of percentages could equate to low, high or just right in the middle. “Just right” means a range of percentages that are hard to exploit.

Step 5: Make the Statistic More Useful and Noticeable

Watch this video to learn how to do this in PokerTracker 4:

Make your chosen statistic more noticeable by enlarging the font size and put a different background color in place.

To make it more useful, place it in your HUD by position, by relative position or by street.

With a 3bet Preflop stat focus, you can include it by position from the EP through the BB:

The total 3bet font is enlarged with a salmon background. It’s also placed by position in its own column on the far right.

The reason for having it by position is that players often 3bet differently based on their position. There are some players who love 3bet bluffing from the CO and BTN, but only 3bet for value from the blinds. There are other players who love 3bet bluffing from the SB because it’s the worst position and it looks super strong.

Step 6: Experiment with the Statistic

This experimentation takes place during your play session.

Every time a player makes a play related to the stat, look at the related percentage. Try to make a read on their range based on the percentage and devise a way to exploit your read.

If you’re focused on the 3bet Preflop stat, force yourself to look at every 3bettor’s stat as soon as they make it. Then, try to put them on a range based on the 3bet % it shows. Maybe you open-raised from the CO and the BTN 3bet you. Their 3bet on the BTN is only 2%. What hands are they 3betting with? How should you respond based on how your hand stacks up against this range?

What if their stat is at 12%? Well, that’s way higher so you’ll probably respond differently than versus the 2% 3bettor.

Practice this regardless of your involvement in the hand. If you fold UTG, the SB opens and the BB 3bets with a 7% range, what does that mean? What would you do if you were the SB? What if you had AA? How about if you had ATs?

Hopefully some of these 3betting hands will get to showdown so you can confirm your reads.

This repeated practice of looking at a stat, making a read and deciding how you would respond will train yourself to use the 3bet Preflop stat every time.

Plan Ahead

Another thing you can do is view the 3bet percentages by position of the players remaining in the hand. Let’s you’re dealt A9s in the CO. You normally raise this hand. But before you do, take the time to look at the 3bet percentage by position for each of the remaining players. Ask yourself if they’re likely to 3bet bluff you. Devise a plan in case they do.

Do this before you pull the trigger on your CO open-raise.

I guarantee that if you look at a stat, make a read and devise an exploit each time, you’ll become a HUD master in no time.

 

Here’s my challenge to you:  Starting today and every day over the next 2 weeks, select one stat to focus on per day. Follow the 6 steps here to learn and experiment with the stat. Repeat for as many days as necessary until you become fully capable and confident in viewing the percentage, making a read and making an exploitative play.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.


Exploit at the Extremes – the easy way to learn how to exploit using HUD statistics with color coded ranges

When you’re learning how to exploit players using their HUD statistics, I want you to experiment when their stats are at the extremes. So, you’re looking for percentages very close to 0% or 100%. The more extreme the stat, the easier it is for any exploit to succeed.

For example, you’ll see below that the low range for VPIP is from 0-12%. So if you want to experiment with exploiting using VPIP for the first time, target those at 5-6% instead of those at 12%.

Conversely, looking at the high range of 25% or more, experiment with exploiting players at 50% or more instead of those at 25%.

For each of the statistical ranges below, I’ll give you one exploit you can use for the low range (color coded with red) and another for the high range (color coded green). For those in the middle (yellow), that’s harder to read and it’s a sign of a balanced player, so look for other extreme stats to exploit.

Listen to Podcast Episode #294 called “Exploit at the Extremes”:

VPIP

  • 0-12 – This indicates very tight players who only play the strongest hands. Steal their blinds a lot and if they seem weak post-flop, steal pots with donk bets, floats and probes.
  • 12-25
  • 25-100 – The closer it is to 100%, and anything over 40%, is playing way too many hands. Target them and play tighter ranges than they do, giving you a preflop mathematical edge.

PFR

  • 0-8 – Very nitty players when raising, so believe their 2bets and 3bets preflop. Also expect them to cbet frequently because they raise preflop infrequently with only strong hands.
  • 8-20
  • 20-100 – Way too aggressive with too many hands. Fight back with 3bets if they can find a fold. You can also call them with position and let them spew chips at you post-flop with your smaller range and mathematical advantage.

Learn how to put color ranges in place for these 10 statistics:

3bet

  • 0-3 – Always look at this stat by position, not as a total. The closer it is to 0%, like 1-2%, the more likely they only 3bet with QQ+. Avoid most confrontations versus these ultra-tight 3bets.
  • 3-6
  • 6-100 – You’ve found a 3bet bluffer, especially at 10%+ in their position. Expect a 3bet before you open-raise and make a plan. If they can 3bet then fold, make 4bet bluffs but size them to 22-25bb’s to hit their pain threshold.

2bet/Fold to 3bet

  • 0-50 – Expect them to NOT fold, so 3bet with hands at the top of their 2bet/Call 3bet range. This gives you a mathematical advantage on the flop, which you expect to see because they don’t like folding.
  • 50-75
  • 75-100 – Bluff them a lot especially when they’re in a position where PFR is 20%+. A wide 2bet range and frequent folding = easy 3bet bluffing profits.

Cbet

  • 0-40 – Most ranges hit TP+ and OESD+ only 35% of the time. So, cbetting at 40% or less means an honest player who only cbets with pairs and good draws. Play accordingly.
  • 40-60
  • 60-100 – The closer their cbet is to 100%, the more bluffing they do. Call them IP on the flop then when they check the turn, fire to steal the pot. You can also raise and check-raise these players on boards that favor your range or might scare them into folding. If you make a bluff raise, be sure to hit their pain threshold by going up to 2.5x-3x their cbet.

Fold to Cbet

  • 0-40 – At this low of a percentage, expect them to call. So, rarely bluff but bet bigger for value when you’re ahead of their calling range.
  • 40-60
  • 60-100 – The closer to 100%, and over 70% is great, they’re “honest” versus cbets and fold too much. Target them by raising their blinds preflop then firing most flops when they check to you. If they call your cbet, watch out because they hit a piece of the board (or they hate your constant cbetting and are fighting back).

Learn how Flopzilla can help you understand HUD statistics…

 

Take action to plug poker leaks

Here’s my challenge to you: Watch the color coding instructional video above and follow along with PokerTracker 4 and your own HUD. Get all of these color coded ranges in place so you can start exploiting at the extremes tonight!

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.


The All-in-One Preflop Popup

To help you exploit your opponents as quickly and easily as possible, I created an All-in-One Preflop Popup and how you can use it to exploit your opponent’s preflop tendencies. This popup contains only the 14 most useful preflop statistics. Plus, they’re grouped together in a way that helps you quickly analyze and exploit your opponent’s preflop tendencies

Listen to Podcast Episode #295 called “Using My All-in-One Preflop Popup for Better Exploits”:

The PokerTracker 4 Default Popups

PokerTracker 4 has built-in default pop-ups for you to use called “Tools”, “Flop”, “Turn” and “River”. They have loads of stats broken up by position or street or relative position. But, they’re not laid out in a user-friendly way and are just too cumbersome and complicated:

Why Use Popups?

You might ask, “Why should I use popups? Aren’t the HUD stats on the screen good enough?”

Yes, they’re “good enough” but “good enough” isn’t “Great!” The stats in your HUD are total percentages and they show you average numbers across all positions and situations. Popups allow you to view statistics by position, by relative position (IP or OOP) and by street. Popup stats are more relevant and useful because they hone in on one specific situation, giving you better insight into your opponent’s tendencies.

Example: Using the 3bet Preflop Statistic

Let’s say you’re facing LAG Larry and you have 2,000 hands on him. That’s more than enough to make a good read on Larry’s tendencies. In your popup, Larry’s total Preflop 3bet = 7%. Seems like a player capable of bluff 3betting, right? But that 7% isn’t the entire story.

Here are Larry’s 3bet-related stats by position within the All-in-One Preflop Popup:

By position, Larry’s 3bet stats are 12% in the SB, 4% in the BB, 11% in the MP, 4% in the CO and 5% on the BTN. It appears he likes to use the SB and the MP for his bluffs at 12% and 11% respectively. This means you can fight back more frequently against Larry’s 3bets in those two positions than from the other positions.

Something else very indicative of Larry’s tendencies are his Call Preflop 2bet stats in these two positions. Larry’s total Call Preflop 2bet statistic is 14%. But, in the SB and the MP it’s only 5%. So, think about this… Larry doesn’t call often in the SB or the MP, but he 3bets most frequently from here. Larry treats these two positions as his defacto 3bet bluffing opportunities. We only learned this about Larry because we used the All-in-One Preflop Popup to find specific, positional tendencies to exploit.

How do we exploit this knowledge of Larry?

  1. Expect a 3bet when he’s in the MP or the SB.
  2. Call with hands ahead of his bluff 3betting range or 4bet for value.
  3. 4bet bluff when you think he can find a fold.
  4. Use sizing tells. Maybe you know he 3bet bluffs only 8bb but when going for value, he uses 9-10bb 3bets. Pair this with his positional tendencies and you can pick off his bluffs and fold easily when necessary.

The All-in-One Preflop Popup

The All-in-One Preflop Popup is separated into 4 different sections with all the stats displayed as a total and by position. The first column has the total % for each statistic, then the next 6 columns are for each position SB through the BTN.

VPIP and PFR Section

This section contains the two most useful stats, VPIP and PFR. Seeing this by position is super helpful.

LAG Larry:

  • As a total, he’s a 22/17 player, so slightly LAG
  • In the CO he’s 16/12, so solid TAG
  • In the BB he’s 28/3, pretty loose-passive

This knowledge is going to help you exploit Larry based on his position.

Helping you create your own preflop popup in record time!

2bet and 3bet Section

The next section contains 2bet and 3bet-related stats:

These are grouped together to help you find quick 2bet and 3bet exploits to use against players like LAG Larry (as the example above discussed his tendencies to 3bet bluff in the MP and SB).

Steal Section

This section is useful for cash game players and tournament players:

These are super useful stats to help you steal or defend against steals more profitably.

Let’s look at Larry’s Attempt to Steal Statistic. Because he’s loose-aggressive, you might assume that he’s stealing a lot in every position. But, in the CO it’s only 15%. On the BTN it’s 34% and it’s 26% in the SB. So, Larry’s actually pretty tight in the CO when it comes to stealing pots. And in the SB, he probably realizes that BB players call too much, so he restricts his stealing range so he doesn’t have to see too many flops OOP.

Limp Section

A huge part of profitable poker is attacking the weakest players a the table, and a sure sign of weakness is frequent limping:

LAG Larry hasn’t limped at all in 937 opportunities. He never open-limps nor limps behind. So, if you ever see LAG Larry limp, what does it mean? I can almost guarantee it would be AA or KK with the plan of limp raising.

 

Taking action on and off-the-felt is the only way to plug your poker leaks

Here’s my challenge to you: Create this All-in-One Preflop Popup for yourself right now and use it in your next 5 sessions. Play just 1 or 2 tables and any time somebody enters the pot, open the popup, find the related statistic and try to get a read on what they’re up to. Do this whether you’re involved in the hand or not. By constantly referring to this popup over your next 5 sessions, you’ll train its use into your skillset and it will eventually become 2nd nature to use it to exploit players. Good luck and have fun exploiting!

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.


The All-in-One Post-flop Popup

TAG Teresa’s post-flop popup readout

The 10 Statistics in the Post-flop All-in-One Popup:

  • Fold to Cbet
  • Call Cbet
  • Float Bet, Donk Bet, Probe Bet
  • Cbet
  • Fold Cbet to a Raise
  • Fold to Probe, Fold to Donk, Fold to Float

This popup doesn’t contain any Total Statistical %’s. All the stats are broken down relative position; In Position (IP) and Out of Position (OOP).

Listen to Podcast Episode #297 called “Exploiting with My All-in-One Post-Flop Popup”:

Example: Teresa’s Fold to Flop Cbet IP versus OOP

Seeing this as an IP stat versus OOP gives you more relevant and useful information.

As a total in her KISS HUD, she folds versus cbets on the flop only 21% of the time. That’s very low so it’s obvious that she hates folding on the flop. Helpful to know.

However, what’s even more helpful is seeing her Fold to Flop Cbet by relative position. When she’s OOP, she’s folding 36% of the time, or 4/11 times. But when IP, she’s folding 0% versus cbets and that’s 0/8 times.

Given these numbers, we have an even better read on how she responds to cbets so we can make more successful exploits against her.

Teresa hates folding when IP versus flop cbets.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t cbet bluff her on the flop. This is because the next statistic over in the popup is her Fold to Turn Cbet. When she’s IP, she folds versus the double barrel at 100% (3/3 opportunities).

So she calls every flop cbet when IP and contributes money to the pot. But she folds 100% on the turn. Awesome!!!

Double barrel bluffing against Teresa is just like printing money when she has position on you.

This same tendency holds true when she’s OOP. She Folds versus Flop Cbets at 36%, but on the turn she folds 50%. It is only 1/2 opportunities, but the pattern remains. She contributes money on flops then gives up frequently on the turn.

So what are you gonna do against Teresa? You’re going to almost always double barrel bluff her. If she calls or raises you on the turn, you know she’s got the goods, and it’s an easy fold. You’re printing money by double barrel bluffing against Teresa.

Cbetting and Facing Cbets Sections

The other thing that I love about this popup is it’s divided into 2 sections:

  • Top half: stats related to you making cbets.
  • Bottom half: stats related to you facing cbets.

The reason the top portion is related to you making cbets is because this MUST be the post-flop situation you find yourself in most of the time. Raising and re-raising preflop are profitable ways to enter the pot, and this means you have the opportunity to make cbets.

Entering pots as the preflop caller is generally a losing play and it also means you’ll be facing post-flop cbets.

So, if you find yourself constantly looking at the bottom portion of the All-in-One Post-flop Popup, it means you’re calling too often preflop.

Learn how to create the All-in-One Post-flop Popup in PT4:

Exploiting with the All-in-One Post-flop Popup

Exploiting the Call Cbet Statistic

You might have noticed that the popup has Fold to Cbet and Call Cbet stats, but Raise Cbet is left out. I purposely left it off because it’s a quick math calculation to find Raise Cbet. Basically, the Fold to Cbet, Call Cbet and Raise Cbet always add up to 100%. So, when Teresa is IP, she folds 0% and calls 75%. That means she raises 25% of the time. And anything over 20% means she uses this play as an occasional bluff.

But when she’s OOP, her Fold to Cbet is 36% and he Call Cbet is 64%. That already totals to 100%, which means you haven’t seen her raise from OOP yet. How can you exploit this? Well, if you ever double barrel against her and she check-raises you, you know she has the nuts. Easy fold.

Exploiting the Float and Probe Statistics

When she’s IP, Teresa can make a Float Bet. Floating is betting from IP when the cbettor shows weakness by checking. You can think of floating %’s just like cbetting %’s. Anything over 60% is pretty high and means they use the float bet as a bluff.

Teresa’s Flop Float is 56% and 67% on the turn. She likes to bluff when the cbettor checks to her, so expect this. You can check to her and assume she’ll bet most of the time, and you can respond with a check-raise or a check-call as you see fit based on your hand and her range.

This same idea works for a player’s Probe Bet %. Teresa probes on the turn and River 45% and 40% of the time. Probing is betting from OOP when the cbettor checks-behind on the prior Street. And, once again, you can look at these percentages kinda like cbet stats. So at 45%, it’s semi-honest, so she probably Probes with the best draws and pairs or better.

Critical Idea: Any time you see an opponent make a float bet or probe bet that goes to showdown, take a player note on the strength of hand they held and the bet size they used.

Some players go 1/2 pot for every bluff but 2/3 pot for every value bet. When you spot this and take a note, you can use this information to exploit them in the future.

Exploiting the Donk Statistic

For the Donk bet, this is a bet made OOP into the preflop raiser. Anything greater than 10%, and definitely greater than 20% indicates a bluff donk bettor. Teresa’s Donk Bet stats are 8% on the flop, 6% on the turn, and 0% on the river. She’s very honest when it comes to Donk betting, so give her credit when she does so.

But again, take note of the hand strength and bet size of every donk bet that gets to showdown. Use this info to exploit them in the future.

Exploiting the Cbet Statistic

It’s critical that you plan for post-flop play before you call a raise preflop. Do this by always looking at your opponent’s Cbet stats before you call preflop.

Let’s say you’re in the BB and are about to call Teresa’s BTN open-raise. Before you make that call, you look at your post-flop popup and see that she cbets when IP 70% of the time. She also double barrels 55% of the time when she’s in position, but she cbets the river 0% of the time. Wow, what great information.

She bluffs a lot on the flop, less frequently on the turn and never on the river. This is super helpful information to know before you call her preflop.

Check this out as well. Teresa’s OOP Flop Cbet is a tiny 22%. She’s a super flop honest cbettor! This means that we can very confidently assume she has a pair or better when she cbets from OOP. This is great for us because if we have a value hand, maybe we flop set, we can raise big for value. Hopefully she has a top pair hand and won’t be able to find a fold. Or, if we don’t flop a pair nor a draw, we have an easy fold versus her flop cbet from OOP.

The interesting thing here is that her turn double barrel and river triple barrel when out of position are both 100%. So she makes her decision on the flop and she only cbets strong hands. When she gets to the turn or river as the cbettor, she’s supremely confident in her hand and fires multiple streets. This will really help you know what to expect and help you to plan the rest of the hand.

Exploiting the Fold Cbet to a Raise Statistic

Because she cbets so frequently from IP, she folds to raises a decent amount of time at 25%. But when she’s OOP she has never folded versus a raise. Remember, cbetting at 22% means it’s just pair or better hands, so why would she ever fold to a raise?

Because she never folds to a raise when cbetting from OOP, go for max value when she cbets and don’t bluff raise her. If you flop a 2p hand or better, raise her 3 or 4 times her bet.

Exploiting the Fold to Probe, Fold to Float and Fold to Donk Bet Statistics

You can look at all of these statistics kinda like a Fold to Cbet statistics. Anything over 50% is good and the closer it is to 100%, the better.

Teresa folds a decent amount of time to Probes, at 50% on the turn and 67% on the river. So you should be try probe betting when she checks the prior street.

We only see her Fold to Float on the flop at 43%. This isn’t all that high, so be more prone to Float for value instead of bluffing.

Her Fold to Donk Bet is low at 33% on the flop, but high on the river at 100%. But, seeing as how people rarely face donk bets, it’s hard to be very confident in these %’s until you have 1,000 hands or more on her.

 

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  Watch the video above about creating this All-in-One Post-flop Popup in PokerTracker 4. Spend the next 20 minutes right now creating this pop up for yourself and attach it to your KISS HUD. And then over the next week, utilize this popup at every opportunity. Try various exploits like I’ve mentioned here, and even come up with your own that I didn’t bring up. The more you practice looking at the popup stats and experimenting with exploits, the better you’ll get at using it to earn more chips.

Now it’s your turn to take action and do something positive for your poker game.


Support the Show

Ashley Procter, Greg Samons, Patrick Henrichs, Sean Acey, Raik Bruhn, Woody Adams, Rob Large, Jaz Benitez, Brad Wright, Lee Fraser and Rich Dietz picked up PokerTracker 4 (get it here to support the show), the best poker tracking software.  I love it and use it everyday!  In appreciation, I sent each of them a copy of my Smart HUD for PT4.  With an ever-growing database of hands to study and all the helpful features, PT4 is the go-to software for serious poker players.

Matt Bodie, Adam Linkenauger, Daniel Saether, John McGrane, Michel Moreau, Angelica Cogliano, Gerry Bedford, Heiner Elser, Stanley Lewkowicz, Mike Boyd, Mohit Jain, Jack Stephens, Left Field and John Peebles bought the Smart HUD with a 1.5 hour webinar for PokerTracker 4.  It’s the best online poker HUD in the business with every critical stat in the HUD and the 7 custom popups. This is what every online player needs to maximally exploit opponents.

Glenn Vassett, Lee Moore and James Thomas purchased the Finding and Plugging Leaks with PT4 Webinar (10% off). They understand the importance of diving into PT4, examining your leaks and working to plug them in order to play more profitable poker.

Murry T. and Jonathan Brodie picked up the Getting the Most From PokerTracker 4 Webinar (10% off) because they know that I’m teaching exactly this in the webinar.  They’re learning how to filter for leaks, run reports and dissect opponents and plug leaks (among other useful things).

Coinbase makes buying and selling bitcoin super easy, and bitcoin is the best way to deposit and withdraw from online poker sites. Allen H. used my Coinbase Friend Referral Link to get a $10 bonus when he purchased his first $100 of bitcoin through Coinbase. And doing this supported the show!

Nathan Y. and Brent W. are now playing at Americas Cardroom with me! They used offer code SPSPOD when they created their accounts to get 27% rakeback.

Eduardo Dubon picked up the Poker Mathematics Webinar ($5 off). This was held in conjunction with Mark Warner of ExceptionalPoker.com. We taught you all you need to know about preflop math, post-flop math and Expected Value.

The Poker Study Boot Camp Course was purchased by a seriously kaizen-minded poker peep named Charles Martin. He’s got his work cut out for him with this 29-day course, so good luck!

Loose-Aggressive Tournament Players, Data Mining, Calling with Kings | Q&A #253

By Sky Matsuhashi on August 29, 2019

I answer questions about data mining, calling preflop with the best pocket pairs and facing loose-aggressive tournament poker players.

Listen to the episode as you follow along below

Question 1: Fighting Loose-Aggressive Tournament Players (2:50)

I do have a question about tournaments which I play, kind of a classic question probably. I’m sure you have covered this somewhere in your content, but what is your strategy against overly loose-aggressive players?

– @ThomasEvolve on Instagram

My Answer

In general, I try to use their aggression against them.  You want to play IP and be willing to call down with weak TP hands and even 2nd pair good kicker hands.  Some LAG’s are overly aggressive post-flop, so let them aggress against your showdown worthy hand and spew chips your way.  Sometimes they’ll have the goods, but you can often get a clue that you’re beat by their bet sizing or timing tells or how well their range connects with the board.

Because you’re playing tournaments, most of the LAG play you’ll face is preflop.  So, when a LAG comes at you with 2bets or 3bets, start by putting them on a range.  If your hand is strong against their range (like AJ vs AX and KT+ and QT+ and 76+ hands), then don’t play passively but get aggressive right back at them.  If they’re willing to call with weaker hands (your AJ > their A5, T9, KQ, etc.), then this is good for you.  And if they fold a lot, this is good as well.

If you want them to fold vs your bet or raise, make sure they can.  Look at the size of their stack in relation to the pot.  If the pot is already so big and their stack is so small that they would feel “pot committed” by your estimation (low SPR), then don’t bluff but value bet big instead.

Remember the maxim: When they ain’t folding, we ain’t bluffing.


Question 2: Chopping a Local Weekly Tournament (5:05)

Howdy Sky, I’ve been listening through your podcast library and am really enjoying it, thanks for the poker strategy boost! I’ve been playing in a weekly $1500 gtd tournament at a local card house for the past few months. Last week I made it to the top 3 with payouts being $200, $400, and $800. These guys were very nice regulars who I’ve developed a rapport with, one skilled and the other a self-proclaimed gambler.

My stack was around 3 times their stack sizes and the house reminded us we could chop at any time. They both said they’d agree to it and deferred to the big stack without trying to push me to accept. I suggested that we each take $400 and play for the last $200 since I really want some short-handed experience. I ended up taking it down, but can’t help but feel like all I did was give 3rd place $200 (who literally the next hand busted to me). The final payouts match pretty close to ICM (which we didn’t actively use).

The golden rule of ethics dictates I did the right thing, but my question to you is, is it more important to keep the friendly nature of a LIVE game going at the effective cost of a couple buy-ins, or is it more important to go for blood, look out for your bankroll, and hope the other players take it in stride? Thanks again for everything you do and you’ll be seeing my winnings go towards one of your books in the near future!

– Ronny Loveday

My Answer

This is going to run counter to all you tournament purists and profiteers out there, but I think you did the absolute right thing.  When chopping local tournaments, it probably hurts you to be cutthroat and try to go for every last penny possible.

You hit the nail on the head when you said that you’ve developed a rapport with them.  Because you see them all the time, you want to keep that rapport going, and fighting for every scrap of equity makes 0 sense to me when you’ll be seeing these guys week in and week out (assuming you’ll keep playing there).

But, if you go to the WSOP and get 3-way for the Main Event or a $1,500 tourney, then you’ve got to go for max value because they’re doing the same and reputation/feel good doesn’t matter in this situation.

You did the right thing and I’m happy to hear it.  I like that you went for the short-handed experience.  But, if you wanted to end it right there but squeak out a little extra value, you could’ve said something like, “We can chop if you each give me $75” or something along those lines.  They would accept it and understand it because they would do the same if they were the big stack.


Question 3: Data Mining (8:00)

Hi there, thanks for your tutorial/podcast. I just started using a HUD, but from what I understand and can find on the web, you only have data for the hands you’ve played. Are there ways to import more hands or get more data elsewhere about players in my HUD?

– DW

My Answer

What you’re asking about is data mining (getting hands from other sources to input into PokerTracker 4). The poker sites don’t allow this as it gives an unfair advantage. Theoretically, more hands would be better, but we’re only allowed to use hands we accumulate as we play.

The good news is, the more hands you play, the quicker your opponent’s stats will accumulate and you’ll be able to understand their frequencies. Also, some stats like VPIP, PFR, 3bet, Cbet and Fold to Cbet start accumulating early, so even at 100 hands played you have a general understanding of their player style and that’s enough to begin exploiting them.

Ultimately, don’t take part in data mining and don’t buy those hands.  Just develop your own database through more time on the felt.


Question 4: Is it okay to call with KK and AA? (11:30)

I am a new player and have just started learning through your books. Is it necessary that we should always start with 3 or 4betting with good hands? Actually, even AA gets sometimes outdrawn by showdown. So, would it not be good to just limp with good hands and raise after the flop or just call 3bets and first see the flop then decide to raise according to the table dynamics and other factors?

– Anand Singh

My Answer

No, don’t limp with these hands.  It’s important to start playing the best pocket pairs like KK and AA for a raise and re-raise every time preflop (things change post-flop based on the board and your opponent).  Aggression is important in poker and playing these aggressively will give you a better money-making opportunity than calling with them.

Calling with these big hands are a symptom of either fancy play syndrome (FPS) or a sign of a passive and weak player.  If you begin poker by playing these hands passively, then you will develop a bad habit of passive play and it will be harder to break later on.

Start developing a habit of aggressive play as soon as possible.

Think about what happens when you just call or limp with AA.  You’ve sweetened the pot for all the other passive players to limp behind or over-call, and this just leads to multi-way pots. Sure, your AA is a favorite, but against 3 other players, you’ve got a ton of land mines to dodge post-flop and that makes it more likely somebody will hit 2p+ and crack your AA.

Also, one of the ways you earn money in poker is to exploit players who call too often preflop.  If the weakest opponents will call your raises and re-raises when you have KK or AA, they’re theoretically making bigger mistakes preflop. Help them make mistakes by betting and raising big with the best hands.

Don’t give weak opponents the cheap flop they want.

Question 5: Making better calling decisions (13:50)

I am calling too much instead of raising/folding

– Mikko Mantyla

My Answer

Yeah, playing too passively is a problem for too many players.  Some treat calling as a default play when they don’t know what to do, or they just don’t want to believe their opponent has a good hand and don’t want to be bluffed.

To help you with this problem, over your next 5 play sessions, before every click of the CALL button, complete this sentence:

“Calling in this spot is a profitable play because ____.”

You don’t have to be able to come up with a mathematically sound reason or an infallible argument.  You just have to complete the sentence with any logical answer before you click CALL.

Good calling examples:

  • “Calling in this spot is a profitable play because they’re opening with every Ace and every King, and my AJo is ahead of this entire range.”
  • “I have a draw with 15 outs, and the price is right to call to catch it.”
  • “I know they’re honest on the next street, so I’ll call with the intent to bluff bet the next street when they check.”
  • “I’m calling with my 2p hand because there’s 3 to the straight and 3 to the flush, and I could easily be beat, but I have showdown value and they’re capable of bluffing.”

Bad calling examples:

  • “Dang!  I can’t fold my AA!”
  • “Calling in this spot is a profitable play because… I don’t know.  I just don’t want to fold my big blind.”
  • “I’m not sure what to do, so… I call?”
  • “It’s a full pot-sized bet, so it’s not a mathematically good call.  But it’s a nut flush draw, I’ve gotta call!”

If you can voice a logical reason for calling, then you’ll make better calling decisions.  If there’s no good reason, just fold instead.

It’s important to remember that when you face a bet, you also have the option to raise. You would raise to bluff them off their hand or to gain additional value when they could be value betting weaker hands.  Before you raise, ask and answer this: “How will they respond to my raise?”  If you reasonably expect them to fold most of the time to your bluff raise, make it.  If they can call or re-raise with worse hands, make the value raise.


Support the Podcast

Nic Chavez, Matt Ahearn and Trevor Blair picked up the best poker software, PokerTracker 4.  My favorite since 2006!  In appreciation, I sent them each a copy of my Smart HUD for PT4.  Along with the growing database of hands to study, the Smart HUD is a powerful tool in anyone’s poker toolbox.

Kong Li, Johan Rickling, Paul Kennedy and Luke Marrison purchased the Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4.  It’s the best online poker HUD in the business, and you can get the Smart HUD by clicking here.

Thanks to Vince from Denver picked up Playing to Learn: A Micro Stakes Webinar.

Thanks to Kabaruque for purchasing the Finding and Plugging Leaks with PokerTracker 4 Webinar.

Q&A: Becoming a HUD Master, non-HUD sites and Ranges | #227

By Sky Matsuhashi on March 21, 2019

I answer your poker questions about learning to become a HUD master, playing on non-HUD sites, Bovada and how statistical %’s equate to ranges.

In episode 226, I discussed the number of hands it takes for reliable HUD statistics, as well as individual stat sample sizes.

Q1: HUD Master = Lots of Trial and Error (4:10)

From: Jarret Demain

Q: Did you do some videos on your Smart HUD or a manual perhaps, so I can start using it without too much trial & error?

Action:

Take a look at your HUD and list out all of the stats there. Now prioritize this list in the order that you want to learn the statistics.

I recommend putting your preflop statistics before your post-flop statistics because preflop happens with every hand dealt, so you have more opportunities to exploit your opponents utilizing those preflop stats.

Once you’ve chosen your next statistic to focus on, turn all of your studies towards it for that week. Do a Google search on that statistic and learn all you can like the definition, the formula, what is a good and what is a high percentage, and how to exploit those numbers.

For every play session this week, you will look at that ONE statistic before making every decision. Your goal is to exploit your opponents at every opportunity when their percentage tells you they have a frequency issue.

Background:

It’s going to take a lot of trial and error to become a HUD Master.

Just think about what you’re trying to do: you’re trying to turn a ton of numbers into exploits that you can do subconsciously. That’s what being a HUD Master is: you see a number and immediately you know 3+ ways to exploit that number.

For many of you, if I tell you that a Flop Cbet percentage of 85% is way too high, you might understand this. But, have you ever put thought into how to exploit somebody who cbets too frequently? If the answer is no, then the various ways you can exploit a frequent flop cbettor are NOT going to spring to mind.

5 Potential Exploits:

  • Bluff raise them if they are capable of folding
  • Value raise if they don’t fold their cbets against raises
  • Call with bluff catchers
  • Call to slow play with your strong hands
  • You can call on the flop then bet to steal the pot when they check the turn

I came up with this list of items because I’ve noodled on how to exploit cbettors many times.

You MUST learn all you can about each stat in your HUD and what the various percentages mean. Then you have to make sure you understand what is a high percentage and a low percentage. Finally, you can work out exploits based on the percentages shown to you.

Here’s something I’m going to discuss in detail within the webinar:

The best exploits come from the extremes.

This basically means that exploiting a player’s cbet percentage is best done when it’s extremely high, like 85%, or when it’s super low, like 25%.

 

Q2: Learn from non-HUD sites (7:45)

From: Rob Missinne

Q: I bought your book (How to Study Poker Volume 2) as a way to get disciplined about the game, however, I didn’t realize that I needed tracking software to follow along with the program. I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to adapt the program for someone who can’t use tracking programs? I play on a non-HUD site, which doesn’t allow trackers, but being in the US, it’s the best I can do! Please let me know what you think, I’m up for whatever it takes 🙂

Action:

Begin utilizing game tape for your play sessions.

Game tape is recording your sessions so you can watch them back later to review your play and your opponent’s play. Because you’re an online player, you can record every session you play. This will give you all the details for every hand you’re dealt.

Background:

Game tape is the greatest advantage you have over LIVE poker players. If they want to record a hand for later study off the felt, they have to whip out a piece of paper (or use Evernote) to record the important details like the players, the stacks, the board cards, the preflop action, the post-flop action and the showdown.

You are so lucky that you don’t have to do this. All you need is game tape.

5-step plan

1. Get a decent microphone (or a headset with a microphone) so that you can record your thoughts as you speak through the decisions you make while playing.

2. Get a screen recording software like OBS. Find some setup videos in YouTube to help you set it up.

3. Start recording every session that you play.

4. As you play, have a piece of paper in front of you where you can write down the time that an important hand took place. Example: you didn’t know if a bluff cbet on the turn was a good play at 15:05 into your session. Write that time down on the piece of paper and maybe a note that says, “not sure if this was a good double-barrel bluff spot”.

5. After your session (directly or the next day), replay the game tape and go directly to the timestamp you wrote down. Review the hand, take notes, and then start using whatever method you want to study it (I often put hands and ranges through Flopzilla).

You need to improve your game, and this is how you’re going to get around their restrictions.

Final advice: Find a site that allows PokerTracker 4.

Start your audiobook learning by picking up ‘Preflop Online Poker’ through Audible.com. Click the pic above to begin your free 30-day trial or to purchase the audiobook version if you’re already a member.

Q3: Bovada HUD (13:55)

From: Justin Robbins

Q: I am currently playing on Bovada which does not use HUD’s I believe. I know of a few other rooms like ACR and Nitrogen but am not really sure which ones will let me use the HUD. Do you recommend any one specifically?

Action:

Get PokerTracker 4 (affiliate link) because it does work with Bovada/Ignition. People don’t realize this.

Background:

PokerTracker 4 made some recent updates so that it works better with Bovada/Ignition. It’ll save all your hands and allow you to use the HUD.

Check out this page for more info on configuring PT4 for Bovada/Ignition:

https://www.pokertracker.com/guides/PT4/site-configuration/ignition-configuration-guide-bovadabodog

You just need to get the optional hand grabbing app here to make it work:

https://www.pokertracker.com/products/Ignition/hand-grabber.php

If you do purchase PT4 through my affiliate link above, forward to me your purchase receipt and I’ll send you my Smart HUD in thanks.

Q4: Stat % equates to a range of hands (15:30)

From: Jim Gargiulo

Q: In your book Preflop Online Poker, in chapter 2 it talks about BE% and uses the Villain’s RFI for that position as his range. Am I supposed to use the RFI stat by position instead of their overall VPIP when I’m breaking down hands?

Action:

Whip out Flopzilla or Equilab and build RFI ranges for the most common statistics you see. Print these out and keep them on your desk.

Next, review 10 hands off the felt where you faced an open-raise. Look at the player’s positional RFI percentage, and find the range on your range sheet. Now, given their range and your hand, was your play (fold, call or 3bet) a +EV decision?

Record any mistakes and try to learn from them.

Also, utilize these ranges as you play your sessions. The more you use them on and off-the-felt, the more comfortable you’ll become with ranges and the RFI statistic.

Background:

RFI is one of those stats that’s best viewed by position, and it equates very well to the exact range of hands your opponent plays.

For example, Bob123’s RFI as a total is 30%, but he raised from UTG. His UTG RFI is 12%.

You want to put him on a roughly 12% range and base your decisions on that, not the total 30% statistic.  30% would include hands like KTo, A9o and K2s. These hands aren’t normally in somebody’s 12% UTG RFI range.

VPIP is how often they voluntarily put $ in the pot, so it counts calls and raises from any position, so don’t use that when assigning a preflop range based on a specific action.

You want to find the stat that’s most related to the way they entered the pot then assign them a range based on that.

Pick a Challenge (18:15)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  I just gave you 4 different potential Actions to take:

1. Prioritize your HUD stats and begin learning them one at a time.

2. Utilize game tape for your play sessions.

3. Get PokerTracker 4 because it does work Bovada/Ignition.

4. Build RFI ranges for the most common statistics you see.

Now it’s your time to shine! Choose the one that’s most applicable to what you’re striving for right now, and step into action. Playing and studying with purpose are the best ways to improve your game.

Support the Show

Mick purchased Preflop Online Poker in PDF/Audiobook form.

Joris Schets purchased one of my favorite webinars: Poker’s Bread & Butter Webinar.  In this one, I teach you how to put yourself in the most profitable poker situation. And David Ridge picked up Getting the Most from PokerTracker 4 Webinar.

Ben F. purchased PokerTracker 4 through my affiliate link.  There’s no better poker software available for keeping a database of hands or for using a HUD (I sent him my Smart HUD as thanks).

Marco Gasco purchased the Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4.  The HUD comes with 16 stats and 6 custom popups along with specialized color coding for the most useful stats.  It’s perfect for getting the most from PokerTracker 4 and your online play.

Finally Learn to Use a Poker HUD | #225

By Sky Matsuhashi on March 7, 2019

I discuss how to learn all the stats in your poker HUD and practice exploiting your opponents with it.

In episode 223, I discussed using the check-raise for extra value and bluffing your opponent off their hand.

A poker HUD can be an effective tool in exploiting your opponents, but many players fail to take the time to learn to use it properly. It’s just a confusing jumble of numbers for many players because they’re not willing to put in the time or effort.

I believe that humans learn best in 2 ways:

  1. By breaking something big down into smaller, manageable pieces
  2. By taking action on what you’re learning

Poker HUD Challenge (2:35)

Here’s my challenge to you for this episode:  Over the next month, you will choose one poker HUD statistic to focus on for each play session. Do not move on to another statistic until you feel comfortable with the first.

As your pre-session warm up, in your poker journal write down these 4 things about the statistic you are focused on:

  1. The definition
  2. The formula
  3. What this statistic means (put it in a real-world context)
  4. Ideas on exploiting this statistic

Your task is to interpret the statistical value every time a player makes a play related to that statistic, and if it’s a +EV situation, exploit it.

Tag and review all important hands.

Now it’s your turn to pull the trigger and do something positive for your poker game.

One Small Piece of Your Poker HUD at a Time (4:30)

Focusing on one small piece at a time allows you to learn in a systematic order where the next piece builds upon the prior pieces.

It’s like building a house. You start with the plumbing and electrical under the foundation, then you pour the foundation, add the skeletal structure, put a roof on it, then you start on the interior.

When you first installed your poker HUD, you probably had the idea that your HUD will tell you how to exploit your opponents. But I’m sure you realized within moments that the only thing a poker HUD does is tell you how often your opponents make certain actions.

The trick is, you need to interpret the numbers in a way that allows you to make +EV, exploitative decisions.

With all the numbers glaring at you from your computer screen, how to do you learn each of them?

First, you start with preflop stats then work your way to the post-flop stats. Here’s the list of stats within my Smart HUD and the order in which I recommend you learn them:

  1. VPIP
  2. PFR
  3. Raise First In
  4. Call 2bet
  5. Fold to Steal
  6. BB vs SB Fold to Steal
  7. 3bet
  8. Fold to 3bet (I use the Raise then Fold to 3bet stat)
  9. 4bet
  10. Cbet Flop
  11. Cbet Turn
  12. Fold to Flop Cbet
  13. Fold to Turn Cbet
  14. Bet River
  15. Fold to River Bet

In the Challenge above, there were 4 things you need to do to learn each stat. I’m going to cover each of those in detail with a stat taken directly from my Smart HUD; Raise First In (RFI).

A. Know the Definition

Every statistic in your poker HUD has its own definition. PFR is slightly different than Preflop 2bet which is also different than RFI. But, they’re all related. You poker tracking software should have a list of definitions for you to use.

For your stat focus, read the definition and write it out in your poker journal to ensure you grasp the differences between it and other related stats.

According to PokerTracker 4, RFI is defined as the “Percentage of the time that a player opened the pot by raising, given that he had the chance to do so.”

B. Know the Formula

Your poker tracking software should give you the formula as well. Write this out so you fully understand how it is calculated. This may give you insights into what you can use the statistic for.

The formula for RFI:

RFI = (Number of Times Player Raised First in) / (Number of Times Player Could Raise First in)

C. Know the Meaning (put it in a real-world context)

A statistic’s meaning is not the same as its definition. The definition is just what the statistic tells you.

A statistic’s meaning is what you can take away from the number presented; it’s the knowledge about your opponent that the statistic communicates to you.

With every statistic, I try to put it in a real-world context.

If the players RFI is 20% in the CO, this means they Raise First In 1/5 or 20/100 opportunities to do so. This isn’t that frequent at all. This means they fold or limp the other 80% of the time in the CO. So, we can take this to mean they when they Raise First In, they’re doing so with a small and strong range of hands.

But, what if their RFI was 60% in the CO? This means they Raise First In 60/100 opportunities. Do you RFI this often? Probably not, so this tells us that this player likes to play a wide range of hands and plays them aggressively in the CO.

Now that we know the meaning of these 2 different RFI percentages, we can approach playing against these 2 opponents differently. For example, we can probably 3bet bluff against one of them more profitably than the other.

D. Know the Exploits

Every statistical percentage is exploitable in some way. EVERY single one.

You can exploit statistics by raising, betting, calling, folding or even checking. When you know the meaning of their statistic you can figure out an exploit against it.

I alluded to it already, but for those 2 different CO RFI percentages of 20% and 60%, we would probably want to 3bet differently against these 2 players.

Against the 60% RFI percentage, we can potentially 3bet bluff more frequently. At 60% of the time, their RFI percentage has a lot more junk like J6s, T8o and K2s in it. They’re likely folding a lot of these crummy hands versus your 3bet.

Against the 20% RFI percentage, you might want to be weighted more towards value with your 3bets as opposed to bluffing. If you do 3bet bluff, it may be a good idea to use Ace-blocking hands to limit the number of strong AX hands in their range.

Start your audiobook learning by picking up ‘Preflop Online Poker’ through Audible.com. Click the pic above to begin your free 30-day trial or to purchase the audiobook version if you’re already a member.

Take Action with Your Poker HUD (13:45)

Of course, all this statistical learning won’t do you any good if you don’t utilize the poker HUD in-game and base some decisions on the numbers you see there.

By focusing each session on just one stat, the experience of repeatedly looking at that statistic for each of your various opponents is great. You’ll force yourself to gauge what their different percentages mean, and think about the ways in which you can exploit those percentages.

Here’s a 6-max table where every opponent has a different RFI percentage in my Smart HUD. We’re going to ignore the sample sizes for now and just look at the percentages. I’ll cover sample sizes and the number of hands needed for good reads in next week’s episode #226.

Let’s look around the table:

Seat 1: Villain 11

Their RFI is at 25%. By raising first in 1/4 hands they have a relatively tight open-raising range. This is pretty good news because has ultimate position but he’s not super aggressive. Hopefully, when we raise first in, he won’t be actively 3betting us.

Seat 2: Villain 12

Their RFI is at 33%. This indicates a rather wide RFI range (anything over 30%). We may be able to exploit their LAG tendencies by 3betting them from the SB if they open/fold a lot from UTG.

Seat 3: Villain 13

This one has a RFI at 0%. We’ll exploit this by giving any preflop raise the respect it deserves.

Seat 4: Villain 14

This player is 2 to our right, so we’ve got great position on them. Their RFI is at a small 10%, meaning we need to give their raises respect as well. We can call with speculative hands that can crack big hands, and 3bet large with KK or AA knowing they have a hand that might play back at us like AK, QQ or JJ.

Seat 5: Villain 15

With the largest RFI at this table of 56%, it’s great that we have ultimate position on them. They play so many pots that we can 3bet wider for value if they open-raise/call a lot, or 3bet bluff them very wide if they fold after raising a lot.

Seat 6: Hero

At a RFI at 21%, the rest of the table can expect us to play a TAG style like the player in seat 1. We can exploit this by trying out a few more aggressive bluffs, especially with position, and if they give us any respect at all, we’ll have more fold equity.

Is this a +EV Opportunity to exploit?

Lastly, let’s examine this exact situation.

UTG and MP folded, then Villain 15 in the CO raised first in to just under 3bb’s.

We know they RFI at 56%, so it’s a good player to 3bet against because they’ve got such a wide, weak range.

But, there are a couple things going against us on the BTN here:

  1. We hold a crummy Q2o. This blocks hardly any strong hands, only QQ, AQ and KQ. This isn’t nearly as good as holding an Ace. Also, this kind of hand doesn’t flop well.
  2. While their RFI is high, their Fold to 3bet after raising is super low at 13% (it’s right next to their RFI stat)

Now, I would 3bet here with 88+, A9s+ and ATo+, QJ+ because I believe he can call with plenty of worse hands. I would also call here with smaller pp’s, lots of sc’s and suited-gappers as well as some suited-Aces and Kings. But, we’ve just got the Q2o, so I’m folding here and watching the action play out.

Support the Show

Bud Kincaid and John Whelan purchased PokerTracker 4 through my affiliate link.  These two are soon to learn all the benefits that come with using a HUD (I sent them my Smart HUD) and having a database of hands to study.

Paul Spillane and Vidar Sorenson purchased the Smart HUD for PokerTracker 4.  The HUD comes with 16 stats and 6 custom popups along with specialized color coding for the most useful stats.  It’s perfect for getting the most from PokerTracker 4 and your online play.

The ‘Profitable Bluff Cbets and Double-barrels Webinar’ was great last week.  A lot of people purchased it: Luigi Cappel, Vidar Sorenson, Oliver, CJ Bell, Chris Morgan, Johan Cedarlund, Ludo Vissar, Bud Kincaid and LTU Maximus.  Thanks for purchasing and attending the LIVE webinar.  It was a ton of fun, and I hope you’re pulling off more successful bluff cbets and double-barrels than ever before.

March Preview: The Month of HUD | Podcast #224

By Sky Matsuhashi on February 28, 2019

In this episode, I share with you my plans for “The Month of HUD” and some of the poker training goodies coming in March.

Please bookmark this page because I will link to all the HUD-related content I create from here.  Think of this page as your go-to HUD-resource for podcast episodes and training videos.

In episode 223, I discussed why check-raising gives you extra value and is effective at bluffing your opponent off their hand.

The Month of HUD!

This is preview podcast for the goodies I’m cooking up for everybody in March.

I’ve deemed March as “The Month of HUD”, so most everything I create will be HUD related (heads up display).

Podcast #225: Finally Learn to Use a Poker HUD >>> I discuss how to learn all the stats in your poker HUD and practice exploiting your opponents with it.

Podcast #226: HUD Reliability: Number of Hands and Sample Sizes >>> I discuss the number of hands it takes for HUD reliability.  I also cover individual stat sample sizes for trusting the percentages.

Podcast #228: My Poker Software and Hardware Setup >>> I share with you my poker software and hardware setup for efficient poker studies and play (in both audio and visual formats!).

Podcast #227: Q&A: Becoming a HUD Master, non-HUD sites and Ranges >>> I answer your poker questions about learning to become a HUD master, playing on non-HUD sites, Bovada and how statistical %’s equate to ranges.

Effective HUD Use Webinar (10% off) >>> Finally learn how to use your HUD to effectively and profitably exploit your opponents.

5-Minute Poker Coaching Videos >>> I created many videos this month, and all revolved around PokerTracker 4 databases, reviewing player stats and finding/plugging leaks.  I also did a couple BTS episodes so you can see how I go through a database to find leaks.

I hope you’re enjoying the Month of HUD!

Next month’s theme: The Month of Poker Books.

Check out last month’s theme: The Month of Post-flop.

Up Next…

In episode 225, I’ll show you how to train yourself to use your HUD more often and effectively.

Until next time, study smart, play much and make your next session the best one yet.

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