I try to check my stats as often as possible, but every few months I really go over them and make sure I plug up any holes that may have appeared and sharpen my claws as best I can. While I was going through my stats this week I figured it would be a good time to write about statistics a little bit. For the next few weeks I'm going to try to concentrate on stats, and if I'm slipping just shoot me an email and remind me that I was going to talk about stats some more. <readmore>

I'm also happy to hear what kind of stats questions you have and I'll try to address them in a blog. I'll be collecting stats from some of my students and the members of my site, but I don't mind getting some statistics in an email here and there either. I'll try to address some of the better statistics examples in a blog as well. Please don't send me your entire PokerTracker database, I really don't have that kind of time, but a few key stats for analysis would be fine.

WARNING! - If you send me stats make sure they are legit! If you tell me that you make the money 80% of the time in SNG's over a large sample but you only win 20% of the time and want to know how to win more I am going to call bull#@$!. Nobody cashes that often in SNG's, not the best players in the world, and not you or I. Send me the truth, and maybe I can help you make it better and make more money.

Since I've been multi-tabling Limit Hold Em for the last few weeks I'm going to give you some ideas about what your stats in Pokertracker should be like for a normal limit game online. These stats will not be the same as stats that the site provides for you in their little stats box, they are only accurate for Pokertracker or PokerOffice.

A quick primer on PokerTracker -

You can download it at PokerTracker.com. The forums and the tutorial on Pokertracker.com are very helpful and you should be able to master the program fairly quickly if you ask questions on the forums and pay attention to the tutorial. The creator of the program often answers questions on the forums but if you search you'll find that most of the questions have already been asked and answered.

If pokertracker gives your computer any sort of fits you can check that out on the forums as well at pokertracker.com, because once it's set up right it's really fairly small and unobtrusive.

If anyone out there regularly uses PokerOffice and wants to tell me about it I'd love to hear what you have to say, I have very little experience with it and it's the only major alternative I have seen to Pokertracker.

Now for some stats -

In a Limit Holdem game online at most levels these stats will apply as a solid base to work toward. If any of you poker geeks want to argue about exact numbers I think it's a waste of time. If your numbers are close to a correct range you're just fine and you can help yourself more by working on your game in other respects. Rest assured that there are players well outside these ranges who are consistent winners, but they are very rare and they don't make as much money as they would if they were closer to this set of numbers.

<span>VP$IP</span> - This stat means <span>V</span>oluntarily <span>P</span>ut <span>$</span> in <span>P</span>reflop and you will want it to be between 13% and 22% preflop. If you are a less experienced player you will want to keep this number down toward the 15% range to keep yourself out of trouble. VP$IP counts any time you call from the small blind or call a raise from the big blind as well as any time you put money in from the other seats. People will disagree forever about what exactly the right number is, but my sweet spot seems to right about 18%.

I notice a lot of players who seem to play a lot of hours and have an 11% to 13% VP$IP on the 5/10 and 10/20 where I play. They would make a little more money playing a few more hands, but it's a very safe way to make consistent income I'm sure. For reference the average new player who knows not to play trash but doesn't have a great deal of poker education seems to have a VP$IP of between 30% and 35%. If I find a player who is over 40% in a sample of more than 100 hands they make my buddy list...

<span>PR%</span> - <span>P</span>re<span>F</span>lop <span>R</span>aise <span>%</span> is another important stat. I like my PFR% to be about 7%, and in lower games it will often be lower because you won't be raising to steal as often. If you have any chance to steal the blinds in a 2/4 game you're at the wrong table. At about the 10/20 level blind stealing from late position becomes a little more useful. Anywhere between 5% and 10% is an acceptable range.

When watching you're opponents this stat will tell you how much respect to give to your opponents preflop raises. 5% means get out of the way with anything but AA KK and maybe QQ, while 15% means you can reraise with AQ quite profitably to isolate the loose raiser with a hand that figures to be better than their average raising requirements.

<span>W$SD</span> - This stat tells you how often you or your opponent <span>W</span>on the <span>$</span> when the saw the <span>S</span>how<span>D</span>own. You want this stat to be over 50%, and 60% or higher is your real goal. if your opponent has a number lower than 45% they are calling all the way to the river with hands they shouldn't be. Make sure to value bet your strong hands agaisnt them, and don't bluff them because they don't fold often. If your W$SD is below 50% you are not getting away from your hands often enough when you are are beat, and it is an area in your game that needs some work.

<span>TAF</span> - <span>T</span>otal <span>A</span>ggression <span>F</span>actor is a very useful stat. The number comes from dividing the number of times you bet or raise by the number of times you check or call. There is more disagreement about where this stat should be than any of the others. We know it should be between 1.25 and 2.2 but within that range even the experts seem to disagree. In the games I've been playing recently there have been a lot of voerly aggressive players, and calling them down with top pair or just calling with draws to avoid being raised has been my preferred method of abusing their overaggression. This has brought my TAF down to about 1.3 and I'm still making very good money for the levels I'm playing so my lower TAF number doesn't seem to be hurting me.

If your opponent's TAF is below 0.9 and he is betting and raising you can be sure he's got a big hand and throw away your mediocre holdings with confidence. If on the other hand his TAF is above 2.5 he is hyper-aggressive and you can abuse him with check raises and calling him down with medium strength hands because of his propensity to bet too often.

That's all for today, but I'll be back with more stats lessons in a few days. Try to remember that stats are like books, they won't make you brilliant, but they'll help you become solid much more quickly, and speed up your journey toward being a monster player.

You'll be hearing from me more often now, and make sure to stop by and check out my website at www.pokerfox.net. We're going through a few changes right now but everything on the inside is fine and the outside should be a little better for the public within a week or two when my partner gets back from Scotland.

I'll see you at the final table,
Fox
pokerfox@hotmail.com
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