New to Poker Tracker

PhallicPhil

I recently audited my results for the year (I started diligently keeping track of my wins/losses in a spreadsheet since June 2004) and I was not impressed with my net $ won over the past couple of months. My goal was to net $5000 by June 2005 and I almost made it but I've lost about $500 in the past 2 months. Also, when I adjusted my online buy-ins and withdrawals on my spreadsheet for the fluctuating American dollar, I "lost" an additional $300 (I originally plugged in a simple formula for computing these amounts in Canadian dollars - $ X 1.35 - but when I entered in the specific dollar value for each time I lost money because I tended to make big online withdrawals when the Canadian dollar was strong and I made my online deposits when it was weak). So I finally smartened up and gave Poker Tracker a whirl to investigate what I need to change/improve.

This program is amazing, as most of you already know (It's like I've been some kind of schmo who refuses to get rid of his Betamax). Anyway, I've already started deriving some benefit from it, but I'm still not sure what stats are the most important.

Here some numbers from my first 840 hands from Ultimatebet
VP$IP - 25.27%
VP$ISB - 46.88%
Folded SB to Steal - 100%
Folded to BB to Steal - 66.67%
Att to Steal Blinds - 33.33%
W$WSF - 31.6%
BB/100 Hands - +7.88
Went to SD - 35.7%
Won $ at SD - 58.3%
PF raise - 8%

I realize this is a small sample size, but can anyone tell me right away which numbers are no good? I think a VP%IP of 25% is probably too high. Right now, I'm just testing this out on .50/1.00 ring games but once I hit $200 I'm going to move up to $1/$2 (right now I'm at $135 after a $50 buy-in). Are there any other stats you guys like to examine?
Thanks for the input,
Phil

magithighs

The stats are only a guide, and as you say it's a very small sample. I find even 10,000 hands is not something you can use as a good indicator if you're playing properly. But, it is a very good sample to help you start checking things out.

What I do, and would recommend is examining why your vp$ip is seemingly high. Replay the hands in auto-replay with the hands which you vp$P. For me, I'm at an optimal range around 16-18% -- over 30K hands. But, this is 5/10 which, IMO plays much like .5/1. The key is to see why you're over 20%, and if you're doing stuff, which you wouldn't do, now that you can evaluate out of the heat of battle.

I replay my hands and look at things like calling a raise. Was the call correct? Look at calling raises from the blinds. Does this make sense, now that you can evaluate the odds and all the nuances of the hand. I think you will be amazed at what you find out. It's really hard to guage the other numbers without knowing your style. At first glance all looks well, though.

Cheers
Magi

the_main

i think your VP$IP is way too high for .50/1.00 - at that level play only the premuim hands and bet the hell out of them

shoot for about 15-18% id say - other than that the numbers look good

for me, over 12,000 hands @ 1/2 i have a VP$IP of about 17% a PFraise of 5% and Won $ @ SD of 61%- showing 1.92 bb/100

SocietyRed

the_main wrote:

i think your VP$IP is way too high for .50/1.00 - at that level play only the premuim hands and bet the hell out of them

What do you consider a premium hand?

the_main

A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-Ks, A-Ko are premium hands - by playing only these at these limits, you'll show a profit

you can also include these strong hands : J-J, A-Qs, T-T, A-Qo, A-Js, K-Qs

then just play your pot odds and the man


i personally play more than these hands at 1/2, depending on the situation.... these can include :
9-9, A-Ts, 8-8, A-Jo, K-Qo

if there are a few limpers in before me, i'll open up and play K-Js, Q-Js, J-Ts, K-Ts, Q-Ts ,Pairs 7-7 or lower, any suited ace

Yorkpoker

Where can one find the meanings of the tracker acronyms (or their definitions)?

I like following these threads, and I think I have an idea of BB/100 and those sorts of things, but is there a general list of what the stats listed in the first post of this thread mean for example?

I happen not to play online anymore, but I still like following these discussions.

Thx
N

SocietyRed

Normaly if you put your mouse over an abr. it will give you the full description in the status bar.

Red

Yorkpoker

I meant without having the program...

Hork42

York,

VP$IP - Voluntarily Put $ Into Pot (%)
VP$ISB - Voluntarily Put $ In Small Blind (%)
W$WSF - Won $ When sees Flop (%)
Went to SD - Went to Showdown (%)
Won $ at SD - Won $ at Showdown (%)


Hork.

ScoobyD

The VP$IP does look a little high, but not way out of left field given the high win rate (7.88BB/100 is huge) and small sample size. Obviously a few good sessions with great cards, and you will likely be playing more hands than average. I believe most of my stats are roughly in the same range (VP$IP is a little lower somewhere around 20-21% I think over 4k hands on Party). Win rate is a little lower as well, around 6BB/100. As Magi stated, the stats themselves are not the end goal (besides your win rate which is). As long as you understand why your money is going into the pot (and it's justified) then you're on the right track...

As an aside, are you playing single tables, or multitabling? An alternative to moving from .50-1 to 1-2 is adding another table (or 2), effectively raising your expected hourly win rate...

the_main

multitabling also allows you to be more selective with hands if you are an impatient type