Are Poker HUDs Worth It? Comparing the Most Popular Options

Marcwantstowin said:

Hi @hobojim1247

I know you cannot use a HUD on WSOP.com, I have never played on ClubWPT - country restrictions.

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THANX FOR THE INFO.

I've never used a HUD since I'm not very tech savvy and dont play enough to make it profitable . Also , I'm definitely not a fan of real time assistance . It's good to hear many sites now ban outside data trackers , and i hope they really have a way to ensure that happens .

I play on GG, so I use (and have experience only in) built-in SmartHUD there.

On the pros side, I could add:
- Everone uses the same and no other HUDs are allowed, so other players do not have any advantage here just because they can buy better HUD
- Except some stats, the HUD allows to make notes on players and I find it absolutely CRUCIAL

On the cons side:
- We cannot see the net result in this HUD (after rake). I understand it is GG policy to not to show clearly how high the rake is (and it is extremely high indeed) but because of it this HUD just cannot serve as sufficient info to track results - I use spreadsheet for this.
- I would love some more stats there

In general, using HUD is a must if you treat poker seriosuly. If you do not use it, you just stay behind others who do.

I initially bought DriveHUD and I really liked the basics of it. I didn't really get into anything too fancy, but then most of the sites wouldn't let you use an HUD so I just let my subscription run out and dont bother using one anymore.

I’ve never used a HUD and actually had to look up to see what it was. I guess I’m not that professional.🤣😂 but I wouldn’t invest in something like that

if i was ever playing in large stake buy in tournaments, or high stakes cash games, yes id definitely invest in one of these and its just easier to compile all the data on everyone. but i see zero (less than that honestly) need to use one in lower stakes games.... why? because as long as you can use the notes functions (which i use a lot) you can keep copious notes on players and their tendencies and how they played certain hands.

I don't use these huds, because I don't play professionally, I play one table at a time, I've heard that it's much better when it's played on several tables, I can barely play on one table. Every time I try to play on Not and on the cell phone I always lose, I get all mixed up. I don't even think about using this tool

Hi folks,

this is really nice to know because i dont give to much attention @pokerhuds - i like the free system of ggpoker but i dont use it every session because im a low stakes player and when i playing 2-3 tables on time i dont have time to look in deep details of my opponents.
It is also possible to make notes if you battle opponents several time, this is also very important when you play heads up a lot.
If you play like a semi-pro and earn about 5000 dollars(net win) or more a year i think you should invest in such huds because your information about others is an advantage.

I don't use HUD but I had a trial version of Poker Copilot a few years ago. I thought about getting some since I found a lot of interesting information that I can't remember during the game. But since I've been playing for a long time with frequent breaks, I gave up. The games I'm currently playing are mostly free, so I don't think I need HUD, I play quite rarely, I lose interest in poker, so I take breaks again
I forgot to mention that sometimes I look at the HUD and some information on rooms that have that option like GG for example

I don't use HUDs online , I hate them , it's a theft imo , they give a very big advantage to the HUDs' users compared to the players that don't use them . They should be banned altogether . HUDs and all programms , QI software , solvers , everything . All these cheatings are good reasons no[ to play online poker

I mainly play online so that I can try to improve my game for live play. While there are many differences that don't translate and I haven't started using a HUD yet, I could see it being valuable to make the information gathering "easier" so I could focus on the decision making based on the numbers and build that muscle memory, instead of trying to do it myself.

But whether you play online or live, I think it's valuable to build those "math muscles" and estimation yourself, because Poker is more than just a hard numbers math game, there's a little bit of art to it. If you just get locked into raw percentages and making decisions based on decimal points, you're likely not actually playing optimally.

On sites that accept PT4, yes they are a good investment if you set them up correctly.

• Which HUD do you use and why?

I have used PT4 for almost 10 years now. I tried Holdem Manager and PokerNotes but they just didn't stick for different reasons. Mostly because my PT4 is very customised.

• How have you customized it?

I did it myself long time ago when I knew how to do this Player stats, different vidgets, very customised report options.

• What advice would you give someone buying their first HUD?

Go for the easiest one, in actuality, magority of new players don't need too many stats, even if they thing they do, it takes a lot of poker knowledge to interpret all different stats combined. So just go for the ones that display a bit of advanced basics and are easy too customise.

I bought Poker Tracker 4 many years ago but then when I changed to a new computer, I haven't been able to get it to work with Poker Stars any longer. Other sites that I played on such as Global Poker and Replay did not allow hands to be captured in PT4. When I used it at first, I found it so helpful. Now that my hands cannot be captured, it is of little to no use for me. It does work on ACR but I really don't enjoy playing on ACR.

Is there any list of poker software allowing players to have external huds? Can you guys tell me where you play while using them?

kmiarka said:

Is there any list of poker software allowing players to have external huds? Can you guys tell me where you play while using them?

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That's something you'll have to check with the poker rooms you are looking to play on to see what they allow - some allow all; others some; and others yet don't allow them at all.

Excellent content!

It's the kind of digestible information we need when entering the world of online poker.

When I returned to playing poker and started online poker, I thought it was truly indispensable, but over time I practically abandoned it, plus many rooms have already integrated it into a basic version of their standard game (ggpoker, 888poker, wptglobal), which in my opinion is more than enough.

Obviously, information is power... And that's basically what the HUD provides us... Data.

It's still an incredible tool to use for studies, seeing field trends, etc... But I no longer see the same importance it had at the beginning, where I believed it was an immediate advantage at the table.

I only had experiences with Hand2note because it was free for micro stakes. It had everything I needed initially, and if you want to delve deeper, it allows you to customize it to appear the way you prefer. It's not so easy to configure, but with a little goodwill, it's possible.

I used most of the standard statistics.
VPIP, PFR, 3-bet percentage, ATS.

I added some info like c-bet percentage... sometimes I configured them to give me the values per position (IP vs OOP) of a specific action and so on!

If I were to buy a new HUD today, I would opt for one that was as simple as possible to use, the cheapest of course... But I would use it more as a study tool than something to consider for immediate decisions!

If you play many tables simultaneously, it is definitely a tool that will help you. A large database shows you the tendencies of the players and makes certain decisions easier when you are in a time crunch.

I am particularly against the use of HUDS because it removes humanization from the game. Since those who have the most conditions... have the best tools to play the game.

Currently I'm using only GGPoker's Embedded SmartHUD and only because it's free and of course because I play on GGPoker client. Since I'm just a recreational player which plays daily freebies and few freerolls per week I'm using it very rarely. I haven't customized it.

My advice to someone buying their first HUD would be to read several reviews from different sites (to see which HUD is the best fit for their gameplay) and than decide which one to buy.

sharkscope's HUD isn't mentioned! Although it might be a good idea.

I used HM2 from its release in 2012 until maybe 2017, when I stopped playing cash games professionally.
HUD is a MUST-HAVE tool if you decide to make a living playing poker.
Great analysis in the first post and so many great comments!

In my personal experience, I've always had issues with the PostgreSQL database server in HM2! Either it can't connect, can't start the table manager, or it works fine and then suddenly starts lagging mid-session. I upgraded my setup every year, with new hardware, monitors, and new versions of Windows, and somehow HM2 still managed to perform poorly on any of my configurations. I haven't tried any alternatives to Hold'em Manager.

I also used Sharkscope's HUD, which is a pretty useful tool for MTTs, but I didn't like their business model. Other sites offer free stats searches without a HUD, and the free search works well if your APM (actions per minute) is high enough.

in short, for cash games, no HUD means NO PROFIT

I have never used HUD to play games, so I can't say much about it. It would be interesting one day to play with HUD and see what changes there are in my game, but I think that for microlimits it's not necessary.