Some notes on STATS

[Jimbobobb]

Lately the forum seems to be overflowing with posts dedicated to personal stats generated by our much loved tool of the trade, Pokertracker. These posts are made with good intentions. Everyone wants to improve their play, plug some leaks, and get as much feedback as possible. Unfortunately, these stats just aren't the way to do it. Poker is such an incredibly complex and situational game. A page full of numbers is not going to let us know what it is that you're doing wrong, or even that anything is wrong in the first place. There are no magical 'target' stats that you should be shooting for. The level/texture/style of your game will change every time you sit at a new table, and you will adjust accordingly and play differently. Instead of stats, you should be posting hands. Hands you felt lost on. Hands you thought you played well. Hands you got outplayed on. Just hands and more hands. Read the responses to your hands and respond to those responses. Start a dialogue if you disagree with someone or want more information from a poster. Read other hands. Read the responses. Post responses to hands. Disagree with people and start writing a thesis on why effective odds are more important than immediate pot odds when you have a backdoor flush draw and an inside straight with bottom pair on the flop. THESE things and these discussions will make you a better player. If some of your stats in pokertracker are truly making you scratch your head, then feel free to post them, but include with them explanations as to why the numbers are the way they are, and why you think this is odd.

I'm just completely fed up with the:

Hands: 5,833
VPIP: 27.33%
VP$SB: 47.99
W$WSF: 28.0
BB/100: 7.24
W$SD: 52.98
PFR: 9.02
Does my VPIP and PFR look too high?

Seriously, how is anyone supposed to say *anything* that could be usefull or definitely truthfull about that block of numbers? What definites does it reveal? The answer is not a damn thing. Those numbers don't tell us anything about what you play or why, and tells us nothing about how you play post-flop, which is the *GREAT* majority of the game. Honestly if you want to know what these numbers should be, here goes....

Hands: Should be greater than zero
VPIP: Should also be greater than zero
VP$SB: Should be a real number
W$WSF: This number can indeed be imaginary, because it doesn't matter at all.
BB/100: my C*** is soooooo freakin huge. You have no idea
W$SD: Another real number here. None of that shitty 'i' stuff
PFR: This number should be less than or equal to your VPIP.

Instead try something along these lines....
my vpip is around 27%. These are the hands I typically play from early position.....mid position after a limper or two...late position after 3 limpers....I will open raise from mid and late position with...... etc. etc. etc.
This will produce much more useful feedback.

Don't just give us numbers. If you want information about your play in general, give us generalities about your game, how you play, what you play, and why. When it comes down to specifics, we want to see specific hands, not numbers. Pokertracker is a wonderful tool, and it can help you improve. The best way that it does that is by storing hands and letting you replay hands you had problems/uncertainties with. Do not become attached to the pretty numbers that it prints out. They mean nothing next to how you play. This is *not* meant as a personal attack on the people who have been posting stats lately, so please do not take it that way. I simply feel that too many people are placing much too much emphasis on these numbers, and it is not helping them to become better players in any way.