What's in Your HUD with Sean Green (cage)

We sat down with art dealer and recreational poker player Sean "cage" Green to get his thoughts on poker-related software.  Cage plays on PokerStars under the screen name rofllolingt and is the #9 poker advice advisor on the popular poker forum and rankings site PocketFives.com.
 
PokerSoftware:  Tell us about yourself.  What poker games do you typically play, on what sites, and how many tables do you typically play at once?
 
Sean Green:  I have an art business and try to play as much poker as I can on the side, but it's never enough. I play micro-stakes sit and gos mostly, along with some multi-table tournaments on PokerStars.  The maximum number of tables I play is 10 at once, but typically it's more like four to six at one time.
 
Poker Software:  What software do you use while playing or for review?
 
Sean Green:  I use Hold'em Manager while playing poker online and use the database to review my game.  I also use PokerStrategy Equilabs to look into hands in more detail after playing.
 
PokerSoftware:  How does Hold'em Manager 2 help your game and does it help you more effectively multi-table?
 
Sean Green:  It is useful to have a large number of hands and stats on your opponents and so when multi-tabling, it is invaluable.
 
PokerSoftware:  What stats are in your HUD?
 
Sean Green:  My HUD includes VPIP%, PFR%, 3-bet %, Aggression Factor, Continuation Bet %, Turn Continuation Bet %, Fold to Continuation Bet %, Fold to Turn Continuation Bet %, and Fold to 3-bet %.
 
PokerSoftware:  What stats are most important to you and what type of sample size do you need to start relying on the information in your HUD?
 
Sean Green:  Correlation between VPIP/PFR/3B immediately tells you if a player is weak or solid.  Sometimes it's obvious pretty quickly what kind of a player you are up against, say 20-40 hands, but a lot of the time 100+ hands are needed to get a decent idea. The other stats are more useful the more hands you play, and the deeper I am in a tourney, the more I will be looking a lot at 3-bet stats to determine who I can steal against.  I will also be looking more at other players' stealing tendencies in the pop-up.
 
PokerSoftware:  Tell us how you use the pop-ups.
 
Sean Green:  Pop-ups are helpful when I am deciding whether to 3-bet a late or middle position opener when I'm in the blinds and the stacks are generally pretty shallow.  In these spots, I will look at stealing frequencies in the HUD pop-up, especially when it is folded to the opener.  I will combine this info with the Fold to 3-bet stat and how active or tight the opponent is before deciding whether a re-steal would be wise.
 
PokerSoftware:  How do you use Hold'em Manager 2 for review?
 
Cage:  I look at hands in Hold'em Manager 2 that bother me, mostly hands where I think I may have missed value or hands where I think I may have overestimated my equity or underestimated the potential for a bluff at a particular point.
 
PokerSoftware:  Tell us a bit about PokerStrategy Equilabs.  What does this software do and how are you using it?
 
Cage:  When I have identified the hands in Hold'em Manager 2 that bother me, I simulate the hand in Equilabs and assign ranges to the opponent(s) whether I know their hands or not.  I then look at the equity I have in the hand at different stages and try to figure out whether my line in the hand reflects an assurance in myself of the given equities present at the varying stages of the hand.  I discover I'm wrong a lot of the time and try to retain the information gained using the simulation.

More articles