The nature of poker has changed since the game went massively online. In the past, Texas Hold’em poker players relied a great deal on raw talent, gut instinct and the ability to read other players to manipulate and bluff their way to victory. That began to change when players started to gravitate toward virtual poker tables instead of real ones, especially after Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP. People started thinking that if a relative nobody like him could qualify via a satellite tournament on the internet, maybe they could too. This sparked the first poker boom of the 21st century as millions of players worldwide signed up for online poker.
Pretty soon, players realized they could use digital technology to track their performance and that of other players statistically. With the use of poker trackers, HUDs (heads-up displays) and equity calculators, statistical analysis became increasingly important. As analysis became more sophisticated, stats-driven Game Theory Optimization (GTO) became mainstream, as WSOP champs like Daniel Negreanu adopted the new style. When you enter an online poker room today, it’s highly likely that one or more of your opponents will be analyzing your statistics on HUDs. The good news is that you can use HUD stats too. But with so many statistics available, which ones should you focus on? Let’s look at the most interesting HUD online poker stats today.
Voluntarily put in pot (VPIP)
Setting aside forced bets such as big blinds, small blinds and antes, how often do you voluntarily put money in the pot before you see the flop? The answer is every time you call, bet or raise. This is your VPIP percentage. A high VPIP indicates a loose preflop hand selection, while a low VPIP signals a tight preflop hand selection. As a rule of thumb, a VPIP of 15-20% (assuming a full-ring, nine-handed table) signals a tight player who only puts in money when they’re holding decent cards in a Texas Hold’em poker game. A player with a VPIP of 20-27% may be an experienced player who knows when to open up their range. A very high VPIP indicates a loose, aggressive player who may just be reckless but may also be very skilled. Treat with caution!
Pre-flop raise (PFR)
How often do you raise before you see the flop when you’re playing live poker online? A player’s PFR percentage spells out how aggressive their style is, with a high value signaling aggression and a low value signaling passivity. A player’s minimum PFR value is 0% and their maximum is equal to their VPIP. A high PFR percentage indicates a good player. That’s because weak players and novices call too often before the flop, while good players fold and raise often. The ideal PFR value is 2-3% lower than VPIP. If you notice that a player’s VPIP is 15% and their PFR is 12%, you can take it as an indication that they play textbook poker with a high degree of mental resilience. In other words, they only play strong hole cards and raise with them the majority of times before the flop.
Postflop aggression frequency (Agg)
As the name suggests, a player’s Agg percentage tells the story of how aggressively they play after the flop. The higher the Agg, the more aggressive the player. Low VPIP players often have a high Agg percentage because they only play strong cards. The ideal Agg range for a player with a VPIP of 15-60% is 50-60%. If your Agg percentage is lower, you should consider playing more aggressively. If your score is higher, you may want to tighten up, bluff less and play fewer speculative hands.
Using your opponent’s poker stats
One of the key roles of poker HUDs is to analyze and exploit other players’ leaks. Let’s look at some hypothetical scenarios.
Say you’re playing Carlos the Constrictor (so-called because his style is so tight.) Carlos’s stats are VPIP 5%, PFR 5% and Agg 100%. His super-low VPIP tells you that Carlos folds everything except for the strongest Texas Hold’em poker hands such as ace-ace, king-king and queen-queen. Carlos’s PFR – equal to his VPIP – indicates that when he gets those hands, he raises. If you’re not also holding the best hands, if Carlos raises and the action comes to you, you should fold every time. Play very tightly with Carlos!
Then there’s Chad the Chicken, with his VPIP of 20%, PFR of 16% and Agg of 10%. Chad’s VPIP suggests that his pre-flop game is solid, but his low Agg signals that he tends to go all passive come the flop (hence his nickname.) As a result, there’s a good chance that Chad will let you see the next two streets for free. Raise postflop and he may even fold. The right way to treat a timid player like Chad is to play more aggressively before and after the flop.
VPIP/PFR poker tournament tips
VPIP and PFR tend to be quite variable in online poker tournaments, depending on how the tournament is structured and what stage it’s at. Multi-table tournaments (MTTs) with thousands of players typically start out with large stacks and comparatively small blinds, which tend to produce tighter-than-average stats, even with the best players. As the blinds increase, play tends to become more aggressive, with correspondingly looser stats. In the later stages, antes come into play. To prevent these forced bets from eating into their stacks, players will open up their ranges and the stats will loosen up even more. It’s a worthwhile exercise to track a winner’s stats from the beginning to the end of an online poker tournament. Doing this is a good way to improve your poker skills.
Improve your poker stats at Borgata Online
The best way to improve your stats is to play as much quality live poker online as your schedule and work-life balance permit. At Borgata Online, you’ll get the chance to play Seven Card Stud, Omaha and Texas Hold’em poker against like-minded players at any time that suits you. Register for cash games, sit and gos and daily and weekly online poker tournaments with great prizes and buy-ins to suit your budget. Between sessions, you’re welcome to unwind with our huge variety of online casino games featuring top online slots and entertaining casino table games, including roulette, blackjack and baccarat.