Mid-Stakes Poker Player HUDs Analyzed

For those of you who are intelligent enough to be running either Holdem Manager or PokerTracker 3 and keep hand history statistics on your opponents, you also likely make use of a Heads-Up Display (HUD).  Most poker players who use an HUD do so to make their lives a little easier in an attempt to add more tables to their sessions.  There's been a lot of debate as to the ethics of using an HUD and keeping stats, but the main argument for their allowance at the major online poker rooms is that (1) the same could be accomplished with a pen and paper, (2) there is nothing to stop a player from doing it offline, and (3) there is a level playing field since all players have the ability to use the HUD.

As players grind their way up in stakes, they get a finer feel for which stats are important and which aren't.  Most likely, if you are a member of a forum, then you've compared HUD stats with friends, but oftentimes it's a mystery what some of the more successful players are doing.  Let's take a look at several mid-stakes players and their HUD stats.

ChrisTC01 : Plays stakes anywhere from $3-$6 No Limit to $10-$20 No Limit



ChrisTC01 is a successful player who went through a really bad losing streak about six months ago at the nosebleed levels.  He rebuilt his bankroll following a strict 13/8 buy-in move-up/drop-down guideline for bankroll management. Now, he is back regularly playing the limits mentioned.  Since play gets sophisticated at the six-handed nosebleed tables, he uses quite a few stats to help him along the way.  In his HUD, the stats that are shown include:

V| VPIP, PFR B3| 3-bet, Fold to 3-bet
Sq| Squeeze% St| Steal%, Fold BB to Steal
A| Post-flop aggression C| C-bet%, Fold to c-bet, Raise c-bet
Bet turn OOP vs. missed C-bet B2| 2-barrel% |Fold to 2-barrel S| Went to showdown

As you can see, some stats that we normally see in a low- or micro-stakes player's HUD exist, but perhaps in a different order than we're used to.  VPIP and PFR are still grouped together at the top, but the AGF (post-flop aggression) is moved down to where the continuation bet statistics are displayed, which makes sense since the post-flop stats are grouped together.  The squeeze statistic is something normally not seen in an HUD, but when you're playing higher level aggression six-handed games, that stat becomes an invaluable tool.  The last line of the HUD is interesting because it includes statistics that are rarely seen in the HUD of a low- or micro-stakes player.  Again, when you are dealing with the type of aggression necessary for keeping up in high level games, the double barrel percentage and folds to the double barrel stats are vital.

Now, let's compare this HUD to one from a player who will be stepping up to these stakes soon in Zachvac, a who regularly competes in 200nl ($1-$2 No Limit) and 400nl ($2-$4 No Limit) on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.  Zachvac has been known to take the occasional shot at $5-$10 No Limit if there's a fish or two sitting at the tables.  Zach's HUD stats are:

 # of hands
 cbet, fold to flop cbet, fold to turn cbet, fold to river cbet
 vpip, pfr, steal, fold BB to steal, 3-bet, fold to 3-bet

This looks like a much more streamlined HUD. It's appropriate for a full ring player and not someone who plays the more aggressive six-handed edition of Texas Hold'em.  The similarities in the HUD include the regular VPIP, PFR, Steal, Folds to Steal, 3-Bet, and Folds to 3-Bet numbers as well as the Continuation Bet and Folds to Continuation Bet figures.  Zachvac doesn't use the Squeeze or Double Barrel stats that ChrisTC01 utilizes, probably due to the fact the two complete at different levels. More importantly, ChrisTC01 plays six-handed and Zachvac mainly plays full ring.

This insight into ChrisTC01's HUD and comparing it to Zachvac's HUD allows a low- or micro-stakes player to compare themselves to two pros that are up in stakes. In addition, you can examine some of the typical HUD stats in $2-$4 No Limit full ring and $10-$20 No Limit Six-Handed.