Poker Articles

Poker Statistics: Fold BB to Steal – how often the opponent allows his BB to be stolen

Fold BB to Steal – this indicator is similar to the previous one but it refers to BB (Big blind) position. Fold BB to Steal usually is 3 to 5 % lower than Fold SB to Steal. Bear in mind that you should not be too active in protecting the blinds until you get enough experience since you can lose a lot trying to re – steal.

Share

Poker Statistics: Fold SB to Steal – how often the opponent allows his SB to be stolen

Fold SB to Steal – this indicator shows how often the opponent, being in SB position, folds his hand as an answer to someone’s attempt to steal the blinds. Based on this indicator, you can determine how often and with what exactly range of hands your opponent will call or re-raise in response to your attempt to steal. In micro limit games it is not recommended to try re – steal and to keep this indicator within 90 % is a good idea but in higher limit games the indicator can be about 80 – 85 %.

Share

Poker Statistics: ATS – how often the opponent tries to steal the blinds

ATS (Attempt to steal) indicator shows how often the opponent tries to steal the blinds from positions CO (Cut – off position) and BTN (button or dealer’s position). Here should be taken into account only the cases when there is a raise from these positions in case there were no limps or raises before. The number of the raises should be considered with respect to the number of the cases when no one had entered the pot before this player. ATS indicator will help you to determine the possible range of steal hands and to take decision with what hand you can attempt a re – steal. In order to understand your opponent better, you need to know the Raise first indicator relative to the positions BTN, CO, and SB (Small blind position).

In micro limit games it is not recommended to attempt a lot of steals and the ATS indicator should be within 15 % but in higher limit games steals are very important and the ATS indicator may become even 40 %.

Share

Poker Statistics: PFR – the percentage of cases when the opponent raises

PFR (pre – flop raise) shows what is the percentage of hands raised by your opponent during the pre – flop. It does not include cases when somebody else raises and he calls. It does not include limp – re- raise cases either. PFR is a very important indicator to know always about it is really a good idea. Besides, except the general PFR you should also consider the PFR per position. Sometimes in late positions the opponent plays loose (for instance, he often steals the blinds) and therefore his general PFR is very high but in early positions he can play very tight and you need to consider that. In low limit games you can see another situation, where players prefer to raise exactly when they are in early positions. It is really very difficult to find a logical explanation to this but it is necessary to pay attention. Another indicator very close to PFR is Raise First and it shows the percentage of the cases when a player makes raises in case no one had entered the pot (there were no limpers and re – raises).

For a short stack player the PFR should be no more than 1 % lower than the VPIP i.e. technically, there are no calls and you enter the game with a raise. For a player with a large stack, the PFR should be about 2/3 of the VPIP. VPIP and PFR together help you to get a general idea what kind of player you’re playing against – is he a tight or a loose player, is he aggressive or a passive one. Thanks to these two indicators, you can determine the range of the hands of your opponents. This will help you to evaluate the strength of your opponents during the pre – flop as well as to evaluate the situations during the post flop.

Share

Poker Statistics: VPIP – the percentage of the hands played

VPIP (Voluntarily put money in pot, sometimes indicated as VP$IP) shows what percentage of hands is voluntarily played by the opponent during the pre – flop. This indicator includes all hands when the opponent enters with a call i.e. limp or call – raise, or raises himself. It does not include the game during the blinds since they are not bets made voluntarily.

For a tight – aggressive short stack player when the table is big this indicator should be within 8 to 12 %. Very tight players usually are considered the ones with VPIP less than 20 % and very loose players the ones with VPIP more than 40 %. In other words, the higher the percentage, the looser are players. In case you have VPIP less than 7 %, that means you play too careful and that will reduce your profit. If you play with a large stack, your VPIP should increase with about 5 %. If you play against 5 – 6 players, your VPIP should increase with 3 or 4 % as well.

Share


Poker Tips

If you are looking for a game that offers the best possible odds and the most significant edge, you should get to know online Texas Holdem. At treasurepoker.com you get instant access to hundreds of free poker strategy articles for players of all skill levels.