What's in Your HUD with Scott Margereson (Aggro Santos)

We sat down with England's Scott "Aggro Santos" Margereson to gather his thoughts on poker software.  Aggro Santos has over $2 million in online and live tournament cashes according to PocketFives.com and the Hendon Mob.
 
PokerSoftware:  What poker-related software do you use?
 
Scott Margereson: I use Holdem Manager 2 while playing and for analysis I mainly use Flopzilla and Flopzilla in coordination with Holdem Manager.  I have also used Cardrunners EV a little bit and intend to use it more, but it is very difficult to use and one hand takes a long time to get through.
 
PokerSoftware:  What stats in your HUD do you find to be the most important for decision-making?
 
Scott Margereson:  I don't believe one stats by itself is as important as a combination of stats.  A good example is when the hand begins, you can judge someone's play by looking at the frequency someone opens/calls/3bets from a certain position.  Then, you move down the streets by looking at how people react to c-bets or, if they're the aggressor, you look at the frequency which they c-bet or delayed c-bet, etc.
 
By the river, you put all of the information together and use your judgment based on this to decide what you think is best.  It may not even necessarily be the river; it can be any street really. All you can do is use the information you have and attempt to make the best action possible.
 
PokerSoftware:  How are you using Holdem Manager for post-game analysis?
 
Scott Margereson:  If I am honest, I am only using Holdem Manager for marking hands to review later on and then using other software such as HoldemResources Calculator to review the hands individually.
 
PokerSoftware:  Do you think HUDs are good for the game?  Do you think poker sites should allow them?
 
Scott Margereson:  Good question.  I’m honestly not sure where my views on having a HUD actually are.  I think it's pretty obvious that naturally they aren't good for the game.  Games are a lot tougher than they were and also I would imagine there are a lot of recreational players who have discovered that these guys have all these numbers on their screens, then they get scared to play and quit, as if they believe that now people can see their hole cards or something.

Personally, I would be completely lost without a HUD after using one for such a large amount of time, but, having said that, if a site could actually stop the use of HUDs and there was no way of people getting around it, then I would be fine if poker sites stopped people from using them.  But, the problem is that there will always be some guy who has worked out a way around it and has a HUD working, when everyone else does not.
 
PokerSoftware:  Have you heard about the merger between PokerTracker and Holdem Manager?  If so, what are your thoughts?
 
Scott Margereson:  I think the two programs merging could be a good thing in that you could combine the best aspects of both pieces of software, like I know you can create your own stats in PokerTracker, which you can't currently do in Hold’em Manager.  Also, I find that Holdem Manager is much easier to navigate than PokerTracker is.

The only thing that worries me is that the reason these two brands are as advanced as they both are currently is because they've been competing against each other for years, so I am hoping that the fact they do not have any competition now does not affect anything
 
PokerSoftware:  You mentioned three pieces of software that, to many people, might sound redundant.  What are the differences between Flopzilla, CardRunners EV, and HoldemResources Calculator?
 
Aggro Santos:  Flopzilla is generally used for people to work out how many combos people have in their value/bluff range (it's much quicker than counting in your head) and also to see how strong certain ranges are on certain board textures.

Cardrunners EV is a much more complex piece of software.  Effectively, you're entering stack sizes, opening frequencies from each player, then a flop/turn/river, and then every possible variable you could imagine. Such as the opener only c-bets with middle pair top kicker +, all backdoor flush draws, gutshots, and then on the turn only double barrels with this this etc. Generally, this is software is used by cash game players.

HoldemResources Calculator is effectively a push/fold simulator, showing what the correct range you should be shoving/calling with.  However, you can edit people's ranges if you believe they would be shoving or calling too wide/tight and you can run the simulations after you've edited the villain's ranges to then see what would be correct to shove/call with.

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