Advanced Poker HUD Statistics for 6-max and Full Ring
(Our guide to Basic HUD stats is here.)
So you’ve started using a poker HUD. You understand how the essential poker statistics (VPIP, PFR, and Aggression) give you a good basic picture of your opponent’s playing style. What can you do next with poker statistics to improve your game? You should consider adding the advanced statistics I describe below to your poker HUD.
Blind stealing stats
Blind stealing is an important part of poker. It happens often at all levels of play. If handled poorly it will cost you money. There are two parts to blind stealing, both important. There is the blind steal attempt, and the blind steal defence.
A blind steal attempt is when the button or small blind raises after everyone one else has already folded. The player making the raise is often attempting to make the big blind (and, if stealing from the button, the small blind) fold. The blinds are out of position on post-flop streets, so playing against a preflop raiser in the button is difficult to do well.
Some players get intimidated by blind steal attempts. I like to spot these people so I can bully them into handing me their blinds. I also like to find out which people are more likely to defend. So it is useful to add Fold Big Blind to Steal Attempt (FBB). This shows as a percentage how often a player folds to a blind steal attempt without trying to defend the blinds.
When I'm in the small blind or big blind, and I’m facing a blind steal attempt, should I defend against the would-be blind-stealer with my marginal hand? That depends on how often they attempt to steal. If they attempt to steal 100% of the time, I’m definitely going to defend. If they attempt to steal 10% of the time, I can guess that the villain only steals with premium hands. That is, the villain doesn’t properly understand stealing. In effect, it is like I'm actually facing a late position unopened preflop raise. So I like to add Blind Steal Attempts (BSA) to my HUD. This measures as a percentage how often a player tries to steal the blinds.
Advanced preflop stats
Modern poker has more preflop action than in the past. It is now common to see an aggressive player reraise your initial preflop bet. This is known as a 3-bet. (The big blind is the 1-bet; the first raise is the 2-bet.) The name "3-bet" can be a bit confusing at first. It has nothing to with the size of your bet. The number refers solely to this being the third bet and/or raise.
It is important to understand whether your opponent 3-bets wildly, trying to scare players out of the hand, or whether they 3-bet timidly, only when they are holding AA, KK, or QQ, trying to build up the pot in a all-too-obvious manner. Does your opponent have a large or small 3-bet range?
Likewise, can you scare your opponent out of hands by reraising his initial raise? Or will your opponent call your 3-bet more often than they should? These questions are ones you frequently need to ask.
Hence you should add Three Bet Preflop (3B) and Fold to three bet preflop (F3B) to your poker statistics.
There are other preflop stats, but you’ll seldom use them, so you shouldn’t clutter your HUD with them. For example, four-bet is common in Heads Up, but not so common in 6-max and full ring. So I’d recommend leaving it out of your HUD. Squeeze bet is helpful but it occurs infrequently so again, don't put it in your HUD. Here's a brief description of 4-bet and squeeze bet:
- 4-bet: This is when a player makes the fourth preflop bet or raise. Remember that the big blind's compulsory bet is the "1-bet", the first raiser is the "2-bet", and the next raiser is the "3-bet". So when there is a 4-bet, the pot is now large.
- Squeeze bet: This is when one player raises, another calls, and now you reraise. Your reraise is an attempt to squeeze the caller out of the hand, hence the name. It is a powerful strategy you should use sparingly. It's good to consult this advanced poker statistic when analyzing your own game but you'll seldom have enough data on an opponent to use this stat in a poker HUD.
Advanced postflop stats
Good players frequently continue their preflop aggression with an opening bet on the flop. This is known as a continuation bet. It can indicate to other players that the aggressor hit the flop. That can be enough to make other players fold. It is good to know if an opponent overuses the continuation bet. If so, then you know that they are often representing that they hit the flop, even though they’ve missed it. So add Continuation bet on flop (CBET) to your HUD.
Conversely, will a player respect your own continuation bets? Does the player get scared off easily by your own continuation on the flop of your preflop aggression? Folded to continuation bet on flop (FCB) helps to evaluate this.
If you open the flop with a continuation bet, and your opponent calls it, you will face a similar situation on the turn. This happens less often, but frequently enough to have in your HUD. So consider adding Continuation bet on turn (TCBET) and Folded to continuation bet on turn (FCB_T).
Here's what a fully configured HUD for advanced players could look like:
This HUD is showing as a percentage the following poker statistics:
| Voluntarily put money in the pot | Preflop raised | Postflop Aggression | |
| Blind steal attempts | Folded to blind steal attempt | Preflop 3-bet | Fold to preflop 3-bet |
| Continuation bet on flop | Fold to continuation bet on flop | Continuation bet on turn | Fold to continuation bet on river |
There are other postflop stats you can consider, but I find that you need them less often. It is better to consult them in the HUD popup with all statistics when they are needed. If you put everything you can think of in your HUD, you may have trouble quickly finding the info you need in a critical situation.