Hearing players talk about VPIP and PFR at the tables can sound like they’re talking in another language. It can be a bit intimidating if you’ve never come across the concept before, and if there’s one thing poker players like to do, it’s to sound smarter than everyone else at the table. If you’ve never heard of VPIP or PFR before, don’t worry; we’re here to fully explain the concept and how to use it.
What Do VPIP and PFR Stand For?
VPIP and PFR are both preflop statistics that are tracked by a heads-up display when playing online poker. VPIP in poker stands for Voluntarily Put in Pot and is a statistic that calculates the percentage of hands you voluntarily put money in the pot preflop (not counting the big blind or small blind where you’re forced to put chips in). VPIP tracks all preflop actions, including raise, limp, and call.
For example, if you played 10 hands of poker, limped 2, raised 3, and called 1 preflop, you would have played 6 out of 10 hands, so your VPIP stat would be at 60%.
PFR stands for Pre Flop Raise and is a statistic that calculates the percentage of hands you raise with preflop. This stat only calculates the number of preflop raises you make and doesn’t track limps or calls preflop. For example, if you played 10 hands of poker and raised 4 of them preflop, your PFR stat would be at 40%.
The Relationship Between VPIP and PFR
People often talk about VPIP and PFR together, as when they’re used together, they can give an accurate picture of a player’s preflop style. A player can have four main preflop styles: tight-passive, tight-aggressive, loose-passive, and loose-aggressive. Let’s have a look at what the VPIP and PFR stats of each of those players would look like.
Tight-Passive
A tight-passive player isn’t going to be playing many hands preflop and won’t be raising many of those hands either. This means that a tight passive player will have a low VPIP stat and an even lower PFR stat. You will usually see tight-passive players with a VPIP/PFR stat of 15/5 or 16/4.
Tight-Aggressive
A tight-aggressive player also won’t play many hands preflop, as they’re also a tight player, but they will be raising much more of those hands due to their aggressive style. This means that you’re still likely to see a low VPIP stat, but the PFR stat will be much closer to it. You will commonly see tight-aggressive players with a VPIP/PFR stat of 15/13 or 17/15.
Loose-Passive
A loose-passive player is someone who plays a lot of hands preflop but doesn’t play them aggressively. These are the calling stations of poker, and they do a lot more limping or calling preflop rather than raising, which means that they’ll have a high VPIP stat but a much lower PFR stat. You’ll usually see loose-passive players with a VPIP/PFR stat of 40/10 or 37/11.
Loose-Aggressive
A loose-aggressive player is someone that also plays a lot of hands, but they play a lot more aggressively. They don’t do much limping or calling, instead favouring raising preflop with the majority of hands they play, so these players will have a high VPIP and a high PFR stat. You will often see loose-aggressive players with a VPIP/PFR stat of 40/35 or 36/34.
Check out this guide to learn more about how to play against these different types of poker players.
Tips For Using VPIP and PFR
While VPIP and PFR stats are useful for figuring out how your opponent plays preflop, they’re not perfect. Use these helpful tips to ensure you get the most out of the VPIP and PFR stats in your game.
Check the sample size - It’s important to have a decent sample size on an opponent before making a read on how they play. A player’s VPIP can change drastically depending on the quality of hands they get, so that player who you thought was a loose-aggressive maniac could be a tight player that’s had a good run of cards. Around 30 hands is usually a big enough sample to start making solid reads on your opponents.
Adjust for different formats - VPIP and PFR stats for each player type aren’t set in stone and will often adjust depending on the format of poker you’re playing. The fewer people there are at the table, the wider you can expect everyone’s range of hands to be, as even tight players know they need to play more hands to keep up with the blinds.
Be open to adjustments - If you see someone with particularly noticeable VPIP/PFR stats over a decent sample, don’t be afraid to make adjustments. If you come across a tight player in the blinds, you should raise wider to steal their blinds. Similarly, if a tight or passive player raises into your blind, you should fold more often because you know that their range will be tighter than the average player’s.
Natural8 Smart HUD
Most poker sites require a HUD if you want to view the VPIP or PFR stats of another player, but the Natural8 Smart HUD is built right into our software. In the target icon next to your opponent’s name, you can see their VPIP stat, and you can get more information by clicking on the icon and bringing up the Smart HUD Box.
Why let the players with HUDs have all the fun? At Natural8, our players are on a level playing field, so why not sign up today and use your newly found knowledge of VPIP and PFR to crush your opponents at the tables?
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