HUD: Explain it to me like I'm 5 (1 Viewer)

[chkmte]

I haven't played online poker in many years and have never used a HUD. Recently, I jumped back onto P* and tried to download multiple HUD softwares to try. Long-story-short, although I was able to install without issue, I couldn't get them set up. The first was Hold 'Em Manager (and Table Ninja), and the other one was PokerTracker.

Would anyone be able to walk me through setting one of these up - or offer a suggestion on a different software. I'm curious what they can do and if they can help me with my game. Thanks in advance.

 

[StatTracker]

Some sites do not allow them and perform routine updates to discourage players from using HUDs accidentally against TOS. What site are you playing on?

 

[Lemonzest]

I played with a HUD back in the day prior to Black Friday. I can't really help with the install and setup as it has been quite a few years. I would suggest watching Youtube videos to understand the basics. The HUDs are highly customizable so there is quite a bit of tweaking that can be done to suit your preferences.

One of the metrics you can display on screen is VPIP which is how often a player voluntarily puts money in the pot. This can be a good indicator for how loose/tight a player is. For example, if a player has a VPIP of 15% then you know they are really only playing strong hands. Bear in mind it takes many hands with players before you have a large enough sample size for these stats to be meaningful. If a player has a VPIP of 75% then they are obviously loose and you can possibly catch them bluffing more as their range is much wider.

If you can get a few thousand hands with some of the same players then you can find out tons of information on how they play.

For example, you can even see how often a player folds to a bet on the turn or how often a player folds to a raise on the turn etc. The amount of information gleaned within the HUD is totally insane. Perhaps the most helpful part though is examining your own play and shoring up your own holes. You can see which hands you win/lose the most money on. I remember analyzing my own play and the hand I lost the most money with was 9/10 which I found surprising.

They can be time consuming to setup but once you get it rocking properly they are useful. IMO playing with a HUD isn't very fun as you are essentially just a cyborg staring at numbers. It is much more fun playing live with friends...

Good Luck!

 

[Chester Copperpot]

I use PokerTracker 4 on Bovada. It isn’t that great, because you only get session stats, but it is still useful. It is easy to identify the regs with it, and see who is more donkish. It has been a plus to my game. Since it is only session stats, I use VPIP, RFI, cbet%, fold to cbet%, fold to 3bet, and fold to turn cbet%. Those are enough to give somewhat of a picture.

I get more value from it due to performance tracking metrics it offers, including the leak tracker. I purchased the micro stakes version, and am very happy with it.

 

[TheWhat]

I played with a HUD back in the day prior to Black Friday.

Ahh the good ole days. This was also my last experience with a HUD.

 

[Jimulacrum]

I played with a HUD back in the day prior to Black Friday. I can't really help with the install and setup as it has been quite a few years. I would suggest watching Youtube videos to understand the basics. The HUDs are highly customizable so there is quite a bit of tweaking that can be done to suit your preferences.

One of the metrics you can display on screen is VPIP which is how often a player voluntarily puts money in the pot. This can be a good indicator for how loose/tight a player is. For example, if a player has a VPIP of 15% then you know they are really only playing strong hands. Bear in mind it takes many hands with players before you have a large enough sample size for these stats to be meaningful. If a player has a VPIP of 75% then they are obviously loose and you can possibly catch them bluffing more as their range is much wider.

If you can get a few thousand hands with some of the same players then you can find out tons of information on how they play.

For example, you can even see how often a player folds to a bet on the turn or how often a player folds to a raise on the turn etc. The amount of information gleaned within the HUD is totally insane. Perhaps the most helpful part though is examining your own play and shoring up your own holes. You can see which hands you win/lose the most money on. I remember analyzing my own play and the hand I lost the most money with was 9/10 which I found surprising.

They can be time consuming to setup but once you get it rocking properly they are useful. IMO playing with a HUD isn't very fun as you are essentially just a cyborg staring at numbers. It is much more fun playing live with friends...

Good Luck!

Yeah. This. IMO, HUDs ruin online poker. It's not fair playing against someone with a superhuman data-analysis advantage. And even if everyone has one, it just changes the game too much. But I guess you kinda have to use one if you know others are, right?

 

[Lemonzest]

Yeah. This. IMO, HUDs ruin online poker. It's not fair playing against someone with a superhuman data-analysis advantage. And even if everyone has one, it just changes the game too much. But I guess you kinda have to use one if you know others are, right?

In general I agree. On the other hand its fun but its not traditional poker. It might be helpful to view online poker with a HUD as a totally different thing.

Its kinda its own world and will attract a different albeit less social crowd.

 

[feldmvn]

@chkmte Few things come to mind

-Site/game choice dependent interoperability. PT4 is what I use, however it only works with some sites. It's worked for me on ACR but not ignition, and within ACR they only recently updated PT4 to work on Zoom tables. NLHE should work but other games not so sure.

-Likely a dumb question...but is it plugged it? No seriously, you have to connect it... From there make sure as you start a session to "Get Hands While Playing." You'll usually need to actually play a hand (not just get cards and then fold) for the data to start importing at the HUD to pop up.

This link is great as well!

nnect input data from the site to your drive (for PT4 at least). Under the "Play Poker" tab, once clicked, click to the left

 

[Sambukan]

Yeah. This. IMO, HUDs ruin online poker. It's not fair playing against someone with a superhuman data-analysis advantage. And even if everyone has one, it just changes the game too much. But I guess you kinda have to use one if you know others are, right?

If you are using a legal hud, imo it doesnt ruin online poker. Of course you will see the percentage a player folds to a 3bet etc. But still xyou have to play a lot of hands against the player. And i think without the hud i just had to write more notes on players. And in the shorttime you have to act its kind of difficult to use all the informations in detail. So imo its the same wether you take notes and mark the players (LAG, TAG etc). I use it mostly for replaying hands, when replaying it is very helpful, with ev, equity etc. But during games icmizer (which is not legal on pokerstars) would be a lot more helpful imo. Or just having all the important GTO charts ready. Just my 2cents

 

[Chester Copperpot]

@feldmvn I use PT4 on Bovada and it works fine. You just have to get a separate Ignition add-on for it to work.

You only get session details from villains, but overall it adds value.

 

[Jimulacrum]

If you are using a legal hud, imo it doesnt ruin online poker. Of course you will see the percentage a player folds to a 3bet etc. But still xyou have to play a lot of hands against the player. And i think without the hud i just had to write more notes on players. And in the shorttime you have to act its kind of difficult to use all the informations in detail. So imo its the same wether you take notes and mark the players (LAG, TAG etc). I use it mostly for replaying hands, when replaying it is very helpful, with ev, equity etc. But during games icmizer (which is not legal on pokerstars) would be a lot more helpful imo. Or just having all the important GTO charts ready. Just my 2cents

And guess who doesn't get to automatically see the percentage of the time a folder folds to a 3-bet, raises preflop, and so much else, regardless of number of hands played?

Players who don't use HUDs. They are at an obvious and IMO unacceptable disadvantage to players who do use HUDs, whether we're talking about "legal" or "illegal" HUDs. The difference is really only a matter of degree. Using a computer to automatically collect, analyze, and summarize information for you is an unfair advantage over players who aren't using it.

 

[joker80]

The way I liken it is that I play with the same guys every 2 weeks. I know which one of those guys is loose and the ones that are tight and will only raise with a monster. A HUD helps you understand that when you are playing multiple tables at once. It also keeps track of your winnings and losses, hand by hand.

 

[Sambukan]

And guess who doesn't get to automatically see the percentage of the time a folder folds to a 3-bet, raises preflop, and so much else, regardless of number of hands played?

Players who don't use HUDs. They are at an obvious and IMO unacceptable disadvantage to players who do use HUDs, whether we're talking about "legal" or "illegal" HUDs. The difference is really only a matter of degree. Using a computer to automatically collect, analyze, and summarize information for you is an unfair advantage over players who aren't using it.

Well if you really have time to look at these detailed numbers and then also make the decision accordingly (how many time a player folds to a 3bet f. e.) thats pretty cool. But i was trying to say that during the game it gives you a general view of a player as you would do with writing notes. Different story to analyze your game and numbers after the game..

 

[Sambukan]

I use it to see wether someone is loose, or aggressive, more i dont have time during the game or during a hand. I look at vpip and preflop raises, but i would keep that in my notes if i didnt use a hud