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Introduction to Poker Stats
The modern era of poker deeply rooted in maths and science. It is no longer just a game played with gut instinct, looking across at the table and trusting whether or not their bluffing. There is far more to it than that…
It doesn’t matter what poker tracking software you are using to display the poker stats; they will all have similar features that can help you. However, many of the pieces of information they share are not essential or may even hinder your game overall. There are several key poker statistics that you will need to grasp and understand though to help you generate a good online poker win rate and that’s what we’ll be looking at in this article. I will also share a few tips on what good and bad stats can look like so you can tweak your game to eradicate potential leaks too.
VPIP – Voluntary Put Money in Pot
The most obvious poker stats of all is the “voluntarily put into pot” or VPIP. Any time you enter the pot either through calling or raising, your VPIP will increase. It doesn’t cover the blinds hence the term “voluntarily”.
Interestingly, this stat alone is not a big indicator as to a player’s capabilities. Obviously, if a VPIP is crazy high like 50% then they are playing too many hands but a VPIP will fluctuate based on a players preferred style of play. A strong loose aggressive player will certainly have a higher VPIP % than a capable TAG.
What is a Good VPIP?
It’s commonly accepted that a decent 6 max poker player will have a VPIP between 22% and 30%. For full ring it should drop to between 17% and 21%.
PFR – Pre-Flop Raise
The pre flop raise % or PFR is one of the best poker stats. It reveals how aggressive a player is before the flop. When you combine this with a players VPIP you begin to get a good idea as to how a player behaves before the flop.
If a players VPIP and PFR are far apart, they are likely to be too timid. Conversely, if a player’s VPIP and PFR are within 1 or 2% they are probably only playing raise or fold poker.
What is a Good PFR?
A decent PFR is likely to be between 18 % and 21% in 6 max games and between 12% and 15% in full ring.
3 Bet %
The 3-bet poker stat reveals how often a player is re-raising before the flop. Gone are the days when most players only 3 bet with queens or better. Therefore, we need to assess how 3 bet happy our opponents are. It’s important to recognise that this stat only reveals itself when opportunities arise for a 3 bet. A player who has a 3 bet of 10% is therefore re-raising when someone open raised and it folded to them 1 in 10.
The trick with the 3 bet % is to look at what seat they do it from. For instance, a player will rarely 3 bet from UTG+1 facing an UTG open raise. Most 3 bet opportunities are button vs an middle position or cut-off raise, or the blinds against a late position raise. This where players tend to play more creatively as they are reacting to a player who is likely to have a wider range of hands.
What is a Good 3 Bet %?
This is tricky to answer as poker stats are skewed here based on your position. However, generally speaking, a profitable 3 bet % in 6 max poker games is likely to be between 5% and 8%. This drops in full ring to between 4% and 6%.
Fold to 3 Bet %
One of my favourite poker stats of all is knowing how often a player will fold when 3 bet. Many players in the modern era are trying to be aggressive but not reacting well to 3 bets. They like to open raise but won’t defend or 4 bet often enough when facing a pre-flop re raise.
This is certainly one of the most prevalent poker leaks I find through my poker mentoring (see here for information).
What is a Good Fold to 3 Bet %?
I’m going to sit on the fence on this one a little bit. There’s no hard and fast rules when it comes to folding to 3 bets, but you certainly don’t want to be folding more than ½ the time otherwise you are inviting players to 3 bet you with impunity.
Cbet Flop %
Last but not least we come to the c bet flop poker stat. This statistic shares how often a player continues to bet on the flop after a pre-flop raise. Another common poker mistake made in the 2020’s is players continuation betting too much or not enough. Not just that, but when they opt against c-betting they will almost certainly fold to a turn bet.
If you are facing an opponent who is cbetting over 90%, you can throw in some re-raises or floats to counter them. On the other hand if you are facing a player who continuation bets a low percentage you can donk lead to try and take the pot away. Knowing your opponents cbet flop % and adjusting your plan to them based on your situation is essential to playing the flop well.
What is a Good Cbet Flop %?
Continuation betting is a vast topic with very little literature on it which is why I created a comprehensive continuation betting course. It would be too simplistic to give a “good” cbet % here as it varies based on multiple scenarios. Instead, I recommend you check out our course below.
