Online Poker Statistics Guide
Our ten-chapter guide explains the most important poker statistics used by online players to guide their decisions. Understanding these statistics is essential for winning at online poker.
Chapter 1: VPIP and PFR
Voluntarily put money in pot (VPIP) and preflop raise (PFR) are the two most fundamental poker statistics. Using just these two statistics you can already understand your opponent’s preflop tendencies. You'll quickly determine whether you are up against a professional player, a weak passive player, an insane gambler, or an overly tight rock.
Read our guide to VPIP and PFR to find out how to identify the types of players you are up against.
Chapter 2: Unopened Preflop Raise (UOPFR)
While VPIP/PFR gives you an general view of your opponents' tendencies, "Unopened preflop raise" lets you understand their game according to their positions at the table. This allows you to put your opponents on a “range of hands.” A range of hands is a specific set of possible starting hands a player is likely to have. Tracking UOPFR by position lets you put an opponent on a different range of hands for each position. This is essential information for determining how to play against your opponents.
The UOPFR statistic is the basis of creating a strategy to counter your opponent from each position at the table. Our guide to unopened preflop raising also includes detailed opening ranges for beginners.
Chapter 3: Blind Stealing
Poker revolves around the blinds. Without them, there is no game. Are you attacking the blinds as often as you shoul be? Are you defending properly against your opponents’ blind steals? If you haven't mastered blind stealing and blind defending, you have a significant leak in your poker game. This article explains how to protect your blinds from different types of opponents. It shows you which players are the easiest to steal the blinds from. Learn how to steal and defend the blinds.
Chapter 4: 3-betting and 4-betting
A 3-bet occurs when one player makes a preflop raise and another player re-raises. A 4-bet happens when someone re-raises the 3-bet! These pots are larger than single-raised pots and are integral to your long-term win rate. It doesn’t matter how many small pots you win if you end up losing one large 3-bet pot that erases your profit. Learn when to 3-bet and 4-bet, and how to defend against these plays with our guide to 3-betting.
Chapter 5: Donk Bets
For new players, there can be nothing more frustrating than facing a donk bet. A donk bet occurs when, after you raise preflop, your out-of-position opponent bets the flop before you have a chance to decide if you want to continuation bet or not.
After reading our guide, however, donk betting is not going to be a problem for you. Instead of feeling frustrated, you are going to have a smile on your face when your opponent decides to make a donk bet. We explain how to interpret this statistic and use it to exploit your opponent.
You might be surprised to learn that there are certain situations in which you should be making a donk bet! We walk you through when to make a donk bet, and why. Learn more with our donk betting guide.
Chapter 6: Continuation Bets (cbets)
You make a continuation bet when, after having raised preflop, you then bet on the flop. You are "continuing" the preflop betting. If you are continuation betting incorrectly, you are missing out on big wins against weak players, and you are handing over your cash in situations in which you should have checked. Learn the difference between value betting, semi-bluffing, and bluff-catching with our postflop guide to cbets.
Chapter 7: Check-Raising
Once you’ve mastered continuation betting, you need to know how to face a check-raise. A check-raise occurs when a player checks on a postflop street, and then raises when their opponent bets. Learn what to do when you get check-raised, and how to create a balanced check-raising range in our guide to check-raising.
Chapter 8: Squeeze Bet
When one player raises preflop and another player then calls, you have a profitable opportunity to 3-bet with a lot of dead money in play. Find out how to capitalize on squeeze opportunities and how to react to squeeze bets with our guide to squeeze bets in online poker.
Chapter 9: Big Blinds Remaining
“Big blinds remaining” shows opponents’ stacks as how many big blinds they can pay. Evaluating player stacks in this way allows you to make better betting decisions. Our guide to big blinds remaining explains how to play when short-stacked and how to play against short stacks in both tournaments and cash games.
Chapter 10: Float Bets
When you don't make a continuation on the flop, you often have to face opponents who, sensing weakness, put in a bet. To understand how to play when you face a float bet or when to make a float bet of your own, read our guide to float bets.