If you’re keen to play poker online but aren’t comfortable rushing blindly into the game, then using a heads-up display (HUD) is the perfect tool for you. HUDs are used by many poker professionals when they compete in online poker tournaments and will assist you with tracking important figures that you won’t be able to remember on your own.
In this blog, we look at HUDs and why professional players choose to use them. Does this count as cheating? And what are online casinos doing about it? Find out more below.
What Is a HUD in Online Poker?
A poker HUD is a tool that displays player statistics on your screen when you play poker online. It usually works with the hand history tracker, a device that tracks the history of other players’ hands. By saving the hands that you’ve played and tracking the actions of other players, the information is put together and then displayed on a HUD on your poker table. It is one of the poker tools that players can use online to get great reads and real-time data on their opponents.
HUDs are kitted with various customizable options that allow you to import the most popular setups when you play poker online. While this is usually something you’ll need to pay for, there are plenty of free ones available. Depending on your software, you could customize it using your choice of colors and a unique pop-up featuring each statistic.
However, the statistics can overwhelm you if you’re not careful, especially if you’re new to using HUDs. Once you become comfortable using a basic stat, you can add more.
The Most Popular Tools Used by Pro Players
Below are a few of the most popular and best poker HUD tools that professional poker players use. While these aren’t common when going through an online poker guide, they can make life easier for you once you get used to using them.
PokerTracker 4
PokerTracker 4 is the ultimate suite of tools perfectly suited for players who regularly compete in online poker tournaments. This software supports pot-limit, limit and no-limit betting structures in your preferred format of multi-table tournaments, sit ‘n go tournaments or cash ring games. This software comes with a 14-day free trial, so you don’t have to commit to the purchase immediately.
Holdem Manager 3 (HM3)
Regardless of whether you’re a casual or a pro player, HM3 was designed by poker players for poker players to help you improve your results by making educated decisions. This software is constantly updated as you play and you can select a pre-configured HUD or customize one from the database that houses 1,000s of statistics. HM3 is one of the best tools for playing poker online, allowing you to review each game and pick up on leaks.
Hand2Note
With more than 500 statistics on your table available, Hand2Note displays various stats based on players at the table. These include the player’s position, their effective stack size, the actions in hand and many more. This tool is 99.9% accurate and can be used in various Android poker rooms. Hand2Note offers new players a 30-day free trial, which is enough time to get used to the tool.
Why Do Pros Use HUDs?
If you play poker online, you’ll know that there are plenty of stats about moves made and featured. Depending on your skill level, understanding statistics and having them presented to you while you play will give you a considerable advantage. These stats will reveal how many hands an opponent plays preflop and you’ll have a good idea of their preflop hand combos.
Experienced poker players have an automatic thinking process that determines an opponent’s hand. Without a HUD, it can be quite challenging to track the hands of particular opponents when playing real poker online. The HUD reveals the stats to the player and allows them to make better decisions based on the data before them.
Poker HUDs aren’t only fundamental to displaying opponent stats, but they also help you to keep track of your own information. This allows you to identify where your game could be improved.
Should You Use a HUD?
There are many factors to consider before using HUDs. For starters, how often do you play poker? If you’re a regular player and desperately want to improve, then it could be a good investment, especially if you’re familiar with statistics. But if you’re a beginner, the best route would be to become familiar with a game such as Seven Card Stud or Texas Hold’em.
Some poker sites won’t allow the use of HUDs, but others don’t see it as an issue — and rightfully so. HUDs only provide information; they don’t tell you what to do with it. This means it’s merely a tool used to improve your game. You’ll need to put in the work to learn how to understand the figures and that’s a time-consuming process.
It can be a good investment if you’re a regular player and feel that a HUD will give you an edge while complying with poker tournament rules. However, more players are choosing to use a HUD when playing online poker; we’d recommend you consider using one too.
Put Your Skills to the Test
With Borgata Online, you can enjoy some of the best poker online games available and participate in a series of ongoing poker tournaments with potentially lucrative payouts. Register with Borgata Online and have one of the best online gaming and sports betting experiences imaginable.