What Is VPIP and PFR? The Two Most Important HUD Stats

If you only ever look at two numbers on a poker HUD, make them VPIP and PFR. Across the 350+ players using BearHUD on Stake, these are consistently the two stats people lean on most, and for good reason: together they tell you more about how an opponent plays than any other pair of numbers. They reveal how many hands a player enters, how aggressively they enter them, and where they sit on the spectrum from rock-tight nit to wild loose-aggressive maniac. Here's what they mean and how to use them.

What is VPIP?

VPIP stands for Voluntarily Put $ In Pot. It measures the percentage of hands in which a player voluntarily puts money in preflop, either by calling or raising. It excludes the blinds, because posting a blind isn't a choice. A 25% VPIP means the player enters the pot with about a quarter of their hands.

In short, VPIP measures looseness. A high VPIP means the player plays a lot of hands; a low VPIP means they're selective.

What is PFR?

PFR stands for Preflop Raise. It measures the percentage of hands in which a player raises preflop. Where VPIP captures how often they play, PFR captures how aggressively they play. A player who raises rather than calls is taking the initiative and giving themselves a chance to win the pot without a showdown.

PFR is always less than or equal to VPIP, because every raise is also a voluntary entry into the pot. The relationship between the two numbers is where the real reads come from.

Reading the gap between VPIP and PFR

The gap between VPIP and PFR tells you how passive or aggressive a player is. A small gap means most of the hands they play, they raise; a large gap means they call a lot without taking initiative.

• •Tight and aggressive (TAG): VPIP around 20-24%, PFR around 16-20%. A small gap. These are solid, winning players.
• •Loose and aggressive (LAG): VPIP around 28-35%, PFR close behind. Tricky, applies a lot of pressure.
• •Loose and passive (the fish): VPIP 40%+ with a much lower PFR. They call far too much. This is who you want at your table.
• •Nit: VPIP under 15%. Plays very few hands; fold to their aggression unless you have a strong holding.

Good VPIP and PFR by game format

What counts as "normal" depends on how many players are at the table. Fewer players means the blinds come around faster, so everyone has to play more hands. Use these rough ranges as a starting point:

If your own numbers sit well outside these ranges, that's worth a look too. A 6-max VPIP of 40% with a 12% PFR is the profile you want to play against, not the one you want to have.

How to use these numbers at the table

Once you can categorize an opponent, your strategy almost writes itself. Against a loose-passive fish, value bet relentlessly and bluff less, because they call too much. Against a nit, steal their blinds and respect their raises. Against a TAG or LAG, tighten up and pick your spots, since they're capable of fighting back.

One caution we always give: these stats need a sample size to be reliable. Over 20 hands, the numbers are noisy. Over a few hundred, they're solid. Treat early reads as tentative and let them firm up as you see more hands, which is why BearHUD shows the hand count next to every player.

For thin samples, switch BearHUD's stat display to fractions. A VPIP shown as 6/10 tells you exactly how little data you have, while "60%" can look more certain than it is.

Once VPIP and PFR feel natural, the next step is the rest of the panel: 3-bet, c-bet, WTSD and more. Our guide to every BearHUD stat covers them, and how to win more on Stake poker shows how to turn these reads into exploits.

Getting VPIP and PFR on Stake

The catch for Stake players is that most HUDs don't support Stake.com or Stake.us, so these numbers aren't available out of the box. BearHUD is built specifically for Stake and tracks VPIP, PFR, and 40+ other stats live at your table, so you can categorize every opponent within a few orbits and adjust before it costs you a pot.

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