What's in Your HUD with Dominic Morley (Domchief)

Today, I am pleased to be interviewing Dominic “Domchief” Morley to get his thoughts on poker software and his HUD.  Morley is currently the #1 ranked online poker tournament player in Spain according to PocketFives and spends most of his time playing on PokerStars.es.

PokerSoftware: What poker software are you currently using or have used in the past?

Domchief: For my HUD, I currently use Holdem Manager 2.  I was, until recently, using PokerStove, but have just begun using Flopzilla instead.  I also use Universal Replayer for reviews of my work and poker players I am coaching.

PokerSoftware: What useful things does Flopzilla provide you that PokerStove, which is free, does not?

Domchief: Flopzilla gives you the percentage not only pre-flop, but also post-flop, with a breakdown of possibilities such as top pair, flush draws, and straight draws.  The software breaks down each part and provides you the percent needed to call in each spot.  It is so easy to range the villain and work out the possibilities, giving you a great equity range.

PokerSoftware: Can you tell us line-by-line how your HUD is set up?

Domchief: Line 1 – total big blinds, total hands, voluntarily put in pot %, and pre-flop raise %
Line 2 – 3bet %, continuation bet %, fold flop to continuation bet %, turn continuation bet %, and fold to 4bet %
Line 3 – steal %, fold to 3bet %, flop fold %, 3bet pot %, cold call raise % from big blind, and turn fold %

PokerSoftware: Which stats do you find to be most useful for decision-making?

Domchief: To start, I always look at the top line to see how active they are.  After that, I like to see their response to 3betting, as usually I like to take control of the pot rather than be passive.  I also want to review what type of line they take on the flop regarding their continuation bet % to see if they only play if they have it or whether they will check-fold if they miss.

PokerSofware:  Can you let us know how you utilize the pop-ups from your Holdem Manager 2 HUD?

DomChief: I love the pop-ups since there are many more stats that I would love to have showing in my HUD, but there is not enough space.  I am usually using the pop-ups in tough spots, so if I feel this is going to be a bigger pot than I would like, I try to work out at what point to give up or be aggressive.

For example, if I'm deep in a tournament and the villain and I are deep-stacked, I don’t want to jeopardize too many of my chips.  I will try to work out before if it's worth playing against him or if I should leave it for a better spot.  If I know he can barrel to the river, I ask myself if I really can afford to go to the river with him.

PokerSoftware: What do you think is a good sample size before you start relying on your HUD to assist with your decision-making?

Domchief: At over 100 hands, I start to get a feel, but really I think having 250+ hands is best.  The more hands, the merrier for the bigger decisions, but on the simple jobs, the sample size can be as low as 75+ hands.  Personally, I am quite lucky, as the fields are quite small on PokerStars.es, so it is very easy to build up a good sample size quickly.

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