Picking Stats in PokerAce

PokerTracker and PokerAce HUD have worked wonders for many people’s games. However, with so many stats in these programs to choose from, how can you figure out which ones to display and which one to ignore? To get some insight into this sometimes confusing issue, PokerSoftware.com spoke with a seasoned poker veteran who has actually taught classes in setting up PokerTracker, Brian “WillisNYC” Willis. He’s been playing successfully as a professional since 2004 and claims to have had just one losing month since.

So what does a player as accomplished as Willis have displayed in PokerAce? What among the many stats does he find to be the most important? He stated, “You really need to get a feel for pre-flop raise, VPIP, aggression, and the number of hands that you’ve logged against a player. In other words, you need to know how reliable the information is. For me, those four stats never change.”

Willis keeps his four main stats up on the screen at all times. Based on the game he’s playing, he rotates others in and out. He told us, “The other stats I use change based on the game. In Limit poker, for example, you want to know how often people steal your blinds. I’m finding that there are far more fish in Limit because of it. In PokerTracker, there is a stat that says how often people attempt to steal blinds. In addition, the program also has a stat on how often they’ve defended a blind. Those are really helpful too.”

Limit and No Limit are completely separate games. When you’re using a program like PokerTracker to get a leg up on the competition, it’s important to keep in mind that vital stats also vary by the style of poker being played. Willis elaborates, “In No Limit, I want to know how often they make a continuation bet and how often they fold to a continuation bet.”

Using programs like PokerTracker (plus his poker instincts) have helped Willis retain his edge over the competition month after month and year after year. He stated, “Those stats enable me to play six or seven tables at a time. In an instant, I can look at a player’s stack size, know his range, and know what type of person I’m up against. I don’t even have to follow the table very closely. If I have any close decisions, I can just look at the stats and act accordingly.”

While Willis has been using PokerAce constantly and is quite satisfied with it, he noted that the stats displayed on other programs similar to PokerStove are sometimes wholly inaccurate: “Some of the PokerStove-type programs are not always reliable. Particularly, they aren’t exact if you do calculations like run sets against flush draws or straight draws because they don’t take into account redraws. The programs will say that the flush draw has a 34% chance to win, but that is only to hit the flush. It doesn’t take into account that the player with the set can draw out by pairing the board.”

Willis notes that the only way to figure out the inaccuracies is to go in and play with the numbers. Some pieces of software don’t take into account any implied odds. Willis added, “Implied odds deal with stack sizes. The biggest disappointment I have with that type of software is that there is so much more they could do with it. The software that exists isn’t even accurate in certain situations. However, I don’t depend on software for odds. I know what the answer is supposed to be. When any poker software program tells me that a set versus a flush draw is 34% to win, I know it’s wrong.”

We’ve seen that Willis, along with just about any other big-time poker player, uses a program like PokerTracker to become more successful. However, is he worried about the potential infringement on the one person-one hand mantra? His answer: “It doesn’t bother my conscious any. The poker sites that say that if a piece of software creates a ‘super database,’ it’s not allowed. You’re only allowed to use the database that you’ve accumulated by playing. I’ve checked out these outlawed programs to see if the information is more valuable than what I have is. The super database would help with hands for a new player, but if I play with a person long enough, I have a pretty good idea how he plays.”

Thank you to Brian “WillisNYC” Willis for speaking with PokerSoftware.com.

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