The importance of using HUD at the poker tables

You need to have hints on your opponents in order to maximize your edge over them.

Beside the rakebeck deals [3], there are many other factors which help you increase your poker profit. One of the most important is to use a tracking tool. But if you prefer to have some fun, online casinos [4] always provide an easy solution.

What is HUD

Heads Up Display (HUD) shows you important information on your opponents. It is a software that is used by many professional poker players to gain essential info on the players they are playing against. There is a version of HUD which is free to use, however, if you want to have more info/knowledge on your opponents you can get an HUD for around $50 on average.

Main advantage

Having HUD means you have the above information on your opponents which give you the benefit and an estimate of the possible outcome of what your opponent might take as next move. There are several elements and statistics based on which the HUD is being consisted (e.g.: VPIP%, PFR%, 3b%) VPIP% shows you the percentage of your opponents put money into the pot (i.e. the VPIP% is 50 then your given opponent put money into the pot every second play) while PFR% gives you information on how often your playing partner raises prior to flop.

The most popular tracker programs

Here you can find some info on the most well-known tracker softwares.

Holdem Manager 3

This is an upgrade of the well-known Holdem Manager 2 which is considered to be one of the best tracker programs of its age. Holdem Manager 3 [5] enables you to have a wide range of info out of which you can make the best decision.

Poker Tracker 4 

Poker Tracker 4 is one of the best tracking programs offering its service since 2001. There is a 14-day trial during which you can decide to invest and subscribe for a better version to have a greater opportunity to have info on your opponents. It has a competitive price which might balance that it is non-compatible with all the poker clients and has an average design.

Hand2Note 

Hand2Note is the one of the newest HUDs on the market. It can import database much quicker than its competitors. You can get the most relevant data on the given hand. It also supports lot of poker rooms and its free version is quite god as well. However, if you go for a paid version which enables dynamic HUD and lots of extra features besides that, you can receive an 10% discount from the list price if you use this link [6]. 

There are some poker sites which enable the use of HUD such as Betfair, Betsson, BestPoker, PokerStars and PokerKing.

On the other side, there is an ever growing voices pursuant to which more and more poker room start to limit the use of HUD during the plays to stay free of outside “help”. For example, from early 2014 Unibet does not allow to use HUD during the plays and on the summer of 2019 partypoker also banned the use of HUDs.

To sum up, using HUD is definitely eases your poker life during the play by having all necessary info on the opponent you are playing with.