HUDs and introspections: A grinder’s tool

Posted by Shashank Desai on 2019-06-08 at 12:12 PM

Hello Poker community,

Time for another one of these little write-ups. I try to do some penning down every now and then during my free time. Some of it turns out to be worthy enough to be shared with you all, some of it are just unsaved files on my desktop. Nonetheless, on every iteration of this process, I find that in addition to the regular grinding and studying as a poker player, the process of articulating one’s thoughts in order to present it to the community is a great way of self-introspection. It forces me to scan over my recent past ventures on and off the tables, and to generally re-evaluate my doings. That is all it is really, getting some perspective on a lifestyle lived one hand at a time. Over the course of several sessions, I tend to lose a little bit of that perspective, which is why I turn to relive and regain that POV through a session of informal composition. With the community ever-growing, there are many decorated players now articulating their thoughts with the masses, and that is a wonderful thing to have.

I wish I had access to the invaluable insights of the top minds in the country when I was just starting with poker in my life. That is perspective from minds so cluttered with a variety of activity on and off the tables, yet so streamlined in how to go about those to beat the competition. For a person starting out in any competitive sport, that is a gem to have. Me writing these short & infrequent blogs is my way of giving back to the community. At least, at the moment. If I succeed in inspiring even a single soul to introspect, gain perspective and keyboard it to the community, I will be delighted. So this is a shoutout to all those aspiring players who wish to share their thoughts about poker (and the life that comes with as a player in general); don’t hold back. We have a platform where all thoughts are welcome (community guidelines abiding), and no one is looked down upon whilst sharing their experiences.

I also want to share my view points and opinions on the importance of HUDs during regular grinding sessions. It’s a tool that I warmed up to a little later than I would have liked, but nonetheless, it is helping me to improve my decision making abilities manyfolds.

The effectiveness of HUDs increases as you play more and more hands against a particular opponent. Once you have a sizeable sample across your opponents, you can play exploitative poker against them, using the stats displayed by the HUD to your advantage. For me, it has proved to be a tool that gives me vital stats in a glance, and is immensely helpful when multi-tabling. And when I mentioned above about the re-evaluation of my play during a session, HUDs allow me to cross-check a line of action that I took against a player in a specific spot, and whether I could have played it better based on their stats. Different HUDs have different aggregation of statistics in the display, but almost all have some key pointers against your opponents e.g. player’s 3bet patterns, the type of player generally; LAG, TAG, nitty etc. I would recommend players who are serious towards the game and are starting out to put volume and grind to research on the HUDs available and get a subscription to one that suits your purpose. It doesnt guarantee great results straightaway, but it surely helps you to improve your game through self study and quick analysis.

It’s a great feeling to be an active member of a community that has such abundance of talent and a multitude of great minds. And its only going to get bigger and better. So, join in. Get involved, and get better at your game.