Using A Heads Up Display To Play Online Poker

There exists a tool for online poker players to view other player’s statistics at the table, this tool is referred to as HUD (heads up display). This tool is indispensable to the skilled professional. Professional online poker players often play several tables at a time, many will play anywhere from four to sixteen tables at once using several monitors. When playing this many tables at once it is virtually impossible to keep track of every opponent’s playing style. So, in a glance you can view who plays how and their stats using a HUD. Let’s look at how it works.

On your hard drive are stored the hand histories for every hand of poker that you play online. By importing these histories into tracking software and compiling them into a database that can be read by a HUD, the stats can be displayed directly onto the table. Poker players can then make fast decisions based on playing styles and weaknesses of their opponents. With a HUD poker players do not have to watch every hand and player closely. Let me tell you how beneficial it is in actual play.

If an opponent is watched closely during play we can study their style and exploit their weaknesses, using HUD in conjunction with a datamining software can win you a big advantage over your opponents. Without spending a lot of time studying your opponents you can know exactly how they will play and can move from table to table. Your software will do all of this for you. Some players may fold the flop 60% of the time and constantly check raise the turn. With the help of your HUD you can see this coming just by glancing at the stats. Without a HUD an opponent would have to be watched so closely for so many hands for you to learn their standard play. Let’s say a player sits down at a table and tries to run over the table raising 50% of the time before the flop. Well eventually you may pick up on this even if you are playing 8 or more tables, but with a HUD you will know what you are dealing with before the first hand is dealt.

With a HUD your opponents’ hole cards will also be displayed after the hand is over if they go to shutdown. Often players will muck their cards to keep you from seeing them but the data will still be picked up by a HUD. This will help you value bet the river against players who will showdown weak hands by allowing you to know what a player will call a river bet with.

Anyone playing poker online should be using a heads up display. The professionals are using them, shouldn’t you?

The author of this article began playing poker seriously in 2000 and has played full time since early 2005. He currently makes the majority of his income from online poker and Players Only Rakeback.