PT4 install + first HUD layout
PokerTracker 4 is the canonical hand-history database for US-facing online poker. Install it, point it at the site client's hand-history export directory, let it import a few sessions, then build a HUD. Resist the urge to add fifteen stats. Six is the right number. Stats you do not look at every hand are stats that hide the ones you should.
Chapter focus Install PokerTracker 4, point it at your hand-history directory, and configure a six-stat HUD layout that survives a real session.
Load-bearing idea
A HUD is a forcing function for thinking about specific opponent tendencies in real time. Six stats means you can scan all of them in two seconds without breaking the action; fifteen stats means you scan none of them and click an opponent’s name to see what’s behind. The right six for 6-max NLHE cash:
- VPIP — voluntarily put $ in pot. Headline frequency stat.
- PFR — preflop raise. Combined with VPIP gives you the player type.
- 3Bet% — 3-bet frequency. Tells you how aggressive their preflop response is.
- Fold to 3Bet% — how often they fold to a 3-bet. Drives your 3-bet bluffing range against them.
- CBet flop% — how often they continuation-bet the flop after raising preflop.
- Fold to CBet flop% — how often they fold to a c-bet. Drives your bluff frequency against their c-bets.
These six characterize 80% of preflop and flop decisions. Add street-specific stats (Fold to Turn CBet, Check-Raise Turn%) only when you have enough hands on a player to populate them — otherwise they’re noise.
Retrieval prompts
- What are the six headline HUD stats and what each tells you?
- What is the hand-count threshold below which a stat should be ignored?
- How do you configure PT4 to auto-import from the site client’s hand-history directory?
- What is the difference between a “popup” and a base HUD stat?
Re-derivation log
After the install + first session, write the chosen six stats and their hand-count thresholds into ~/poker-curriculum/notebooks/pt4-hud-layout.md. After 5,000 hands of play with that layout, audit: which stats did you actually look at, which did you ignore, which were missing? The first audit drives the v2 layout.