Top 5 Reasons You Should Use a HUD and Poker Tracking Database

There are many HUD and poker tracking databases and add-ons available including PokerTracker 4, Hold’em Manager 2, Hand2Note, Hold’em Indicator, and Note Caddy Edge Cash 2.0 to name a few.  Each software package has its strengths, which you can learn about by reading our reviews.
 
You may have asked yourself why you need any of this software. The answer is simple, the software will help improve your play and understand your game. Here is a look at the top reasons why you should use a HUD and poker tracking database.
 
1. Learn about your opponents – In live play, you learn about your opponents by watching them play and trying to pick up physical and game-time tells about them. Live poker moves fairly slowly, so you have the opportunity to mentally take notes. However, in online play, you lose out on physical tells and the game moves much quicker. This is especially the case for anyone that multi-tables. A HUD gives you information that you might be missing out on such as how often a player raises, how often a player folds to a three-bet, how often he continuation bets on the flop after raising preflop, and much more. There are literally thousands of different scenarios and based off you playing history with your opponent, software can accurately display while you are playing just about any type of statistics you can think of including by position and stack size.

2. Learn about yourself while playing – A HUD helps you see how you are playing in a game. If you aren’t raising enough, players might take note and you can use this information to try to reverse that tables and start raising more and stealing pots. There are countless ways you can adjust to your game while playing with the help of a HUD.

3. Study tool – A poker tracking database is an excellent study tool as you can see the games you are playing well and others than maybe you should avoid. Additionally, you can drill down to specific hands and replay them to see where you maybe should have done something different. Of course you can look at similar stats that you would see in your HUD and ask around whether these stats are normal or compare them to players you feel are very good.

4. The best players are using them – Basically you are putting yourself at a disadvantage by not learning how to use a HUD and poker tracking database since most profitable players are using them while you are on the tables with them. So basically using one at least lets you have the same information about them that they do about you. On the flip side, many weaker players are likely not using this software, so you will have information about them that they do not have about you.

5. Multi-tabling – While of course you can multi-table without the help of a HUD, you are missing out on a ton of information. Many players feel they can only multi-table effectively by using a HUD. Many HUD developers argue that the reason to own a HUD is to allow you to effectively multi-table without worrying about missing out on the action on tables you might not have time to pay attention to.

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