12-25-05, LearnTexasHoldem:
Poker Tracker And Other Stats
For example, one of the statistics I can view is the % of times I played a hand. Most poker players would know that a good player does not play every hand, and selects which hands to play based on postion and pre-flop card strength and other players actions.
Whilst I have a stat that shows the % of times I played a hand, I have no real way of determining if I am on track. For example, I dont know whether playing 60% or 20% of all hands is better in the long run.
Can you provide any comment as to which key statistics I should be monitoring and reviewing and what the key statistic is? For example, monitoring number of hands played, and this should average around 18%. (Note that the discussion above is only an example to demonstrate the problem I have with the myriad of information available to anaylse)
Any clarity you can provide as to which statistics to monitor and what are the key variables I should be looking for would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Richard
Top 3 Beginner Rooms
Answer:
I'm not sure if I can give you any insight here. Using poker tracker style programs, you are trying to validate your play by looking strictly at numbers. For example, like you said above, what is the ideal percentage of hands to play? I'm not sure there is an ideal amount. A specific preflop starting hand percentage isn't going to necessarily translate into overall profit -- which is actually the only stat that matters. The game where stats would play the biggest role, and where you could possibly get to an answer, would be full table limit holdem.
The problem even there though is that you have a wide variety of games -- some loose, some tight, some passive, some aggressive. Things become even more murky in games where you can bet varying amounts like no limit or pot limit holdem. And it becomes very murky when you get down to shorthanded games. The reason is because which hands you play starts to depend on things besides stats, like psychology.
Next, to win overall, I think postflop play matters much more than preflop play. Let me give you an example with two hands. You have a 76offsuit and AA; the 76off you play out of the BB or SB and end up winning a monster pot; the AA you play and get a horrible flop like 7-8-9, all one suit, but don't release and end up paying off an obvious winner. Now, are the stats both fine grained enough and yet practical to be able to make sense of this? I doubt they would be. Generally speaking, it is a good thing to use all the resources you can to improve your game. One thing I would try to avoid is falling into the trap that poker is purely a numbers game, because it isn't.
Let me give you another example. Say you have AK and someone calls you with A6 heads up. Will you win in the long run? If you think the answer is definitely yes, then you need to think more about the game, because it isn't that simple. If you play poorly enough postflop that you make it worth while for the opponent to take a big underdog against you, you may not win in the long run. Postflop has a lot of elements that are hard to track by numbers only: the aggressiveness of opponents and how often they bluff, if a person is steaming, how other players view your play, if you have beat up the guy badly that day already or if he has beat you all day, etc. So my point is basically to not simplify the game too much by seeing it only as numbers.
Stats can be helpful for some things. I think most winning poker players, at minimum, track how much they are making per session and each session length. The most important stat is obviously if you are winning or not. As with any other kind of number tracking, you need to take a large enough same to make sure it is representative. In other words, you aren't necessarily a winning player by just winning for a month.
Also, I think that if you have notes with your stats its much more helpful. For example, you may have a stat that shows how often you played AJ in different situations but that isn't nearly as helpful as a note that says I didn't play it in this situation for whatever reason but I did play it in this situation... I like to measure how often I'm paying off hands.
For example, how often do I get raised on the turn or river and still call -- like if I have a big pair like QQ and the turn brings nothing but I get raised. This is a flag as to whether or not I'm playing too loose or not. I don't need to see it more than a couple times though before I start realizing the game isn't that tricky and players are just raising good hands, so I shouldn't give too much action. One stat that you might want to track is how often you are calling other player's preflop raises, and with what hands, and how those hands turn out.
Also, you may want to track situations where you have to make crucial decisions. How are you playing your AKs and other big cards when you miss the flop and have no pair? These kinds of stats are actually ones that will help you look at your game. Looking only at the preflop percentage, like 18%, won't necessarily help you at all. You can keep tightening up all you like, but that won't translate into wins unless you know what you are doing postflop.
Your rating:
Click on the clover of your choiceTop 5 Poker Rooms
| Colt Poker Free $10 | Read Review |
|---|---|
| Cake Poker Free $10 | Read Review |
| Minted Poker | Read Review |
| Poker Stars | Read Review |
| 888poker | Read Review |
