HUD Range Discussion with Leggo Poker's Brian Wilbur (BW07507)

Whether you use PokerTracker or Holdem Manager, a Heads-Up Display (HUD) is widely recognized as a best practice by beginners and pros alike when venturing onto your favorite online poker room. An HUD allows you to display game play statistics of opponents at the table based on hand histories received by the tracking tool. There are hundreds of stats that you can put into an HUD, with about a dozen showing up in most configurations. For beginners using an HUD, this level of customization is a little daunting and can lead to serious misinterpretation of stats if defined improperly.

We recently interviewed Brian “BW07507” Wilbur, an instructor of No Limit Texas Hold’em cash games at Leggo Poker, to get his take on HUD ranges.

PokerSoftware.com: Is it absolutely necessary to color code stats?

Brian Wilbur: No, it isn’t, but it’s a tool that can help you, so if you feel like it can help your game, by all means do it.

PokerSoftware.com: What kind of ranges would you assign to full ring games and what color coding system would you use?

Brian Wilbur: Using the color coding notes system at Full Tilt or PokerStars is a great idea too, which goes a bit beyond the scope of what we’re talking about here with the HUDs. I suppose I would make red be nitty, green be TAG, blue be LAG, and purple be fish.  I’d carry this through with the color coding system for a full ring game to look something like this:

VPIP and PFR:

0 – 12 = red
12.1 – 17 = green
17.1 – 24 = blue
24.1+ = purple

3Bet:

0 – 3 = red
3.1 – 6 = green
6.1 – 10 = blue

PokerSoftware.com: How would the ranges for those stats be adjusted for six-handed cash games?

Brian Wilbur: It would adjust like this:

VPIP and PFR:

0 – 17 = red
17.1 – 24 = green
24.1 – 32 = blue
32.1+ = purple

3Bet:

0 – 4 = red
4.1 – 8 = green
8.1+ = blue

Those numbers are obviously just a baseline. I know people that can play really loose, but are still good, so they wouldn't be categorized as a fish. Also, there are a lot of fish that play with a VPIP less than 32% at six-max, but play poorly post-flop. This color code would list them improperly and this is the reason that you should be very careful when using a color coding system.

PokerSoftware.com: Are there any underrated stats that people should look for in an HUD that they normally overlook?

Brian Wilbur: These aren't necessarily things that you should have in your HUD layout, but in the popup, some cool stuff that most people don't look at are VPIP and PFR by position and 3bet by position. Also, vs fish and Att to Steal Limped Pot are good.

PokerSoftware.com: What are some of the most overused HUD stats that people shouldn't worry so much about?

Brian Wilbur: I think all of the stats can be useful if you know how to interpret them properly, but you need to make sure you have a large enough sample on someone to make sure that the specific stat you are looking at has normalized. People make generalizations from small sample sizes far too often.

PokerSoftware.com: What items should we look for in the popup window and what are some ranges for those stats that paint a picture?

Brian Wilbur: This question is totally dependent on the player. For example, one player may donk 8% of hands and donk only sets. Another player may donk 8% of hands and only be donking gutshot straight draws.