The VPIP is a concept associated with each bet or raise that the player must take into account. It stands for Voluntarily Put in Pot and is a term that refers to the number of times a player voluntarily puts a certain amount of money in the pot.
It is, therefore, a quantifiable statistic, and can be measured to reflect how many times a player enters the pot preflop by calling or raising.
VPIP in poker: what it means
The VPIP in poker is to be taken as an indicator each time a call or raise is made. It allows to measure how many times the bet is called or raised, including preflop called hands. It also includes hands that preflop are susceptible to a raise. However, this data does not include the number of times a player has folded before the flop.
Poker statistics in general, and VPIP in particular, also do not reflect those hands in which the player occupies the big blind and reaches the flop without bets from the opponents. This is what is known in poker as a clean hand.
Any software tool can be used to calculate it. A tool to help you monitor all this data can help you better manage the stats of your game in poker and have an additional reading of the game that allows you to know how you are approaching your way of playing.
These programs allow, with some data stored in your hand and in the hands of the rivals, to obtain a data that is stored in its database and reflected as a percentage. A percentage that will allow you to know what your VPIP is, that is to say, the times that you voluntarily get involved in the prize pool.
But, as with other poker statistics, the VPIP measured alone is not much use. They have to measure over hundreds and hundreds of games in order to give credibility to the data.
That is why an analysis and tracking tool can be a great ally to take into account data like this, which will allow you to draw better conclusions about your game.
How to take advantage of VPIP in online poker
To get the most out of the VPIP in poker, you should pay attention to the division by ranks that it proposes. The lower the rank, the tighter the player will be.
The higher the VPIP is, the more the player will be tight. There are four ranges that are usually recognized, and that are the basis for getting much more out of the readings that are made based on the VPIP data:
- VPIP <10: very tight.
- VPIP 15: balanced.
- VPIP >25: very loose.
- VPIP >40: maniac.
The best players, to take advantage of the poker potential of their personal stats, combine the data. VPIP can be used in conjunction with PFR, which measures a player’s preflop raise percentage.
The VPIP / PFR ratio allows you to determine the characteristics of an opponent’s game. Normally, the closer the ratio between these two values, the more aggressive the player will be and the higher the probability that they will come in making a raise, discarding limps.
All this leads us to a logical question: what is considered a good VPIP in poker? The optimal values are always a little above what is considered standard.
Between 15 and 20 we consider the VPIP to be ideal, although it is an estimate and depends on other data, especially the PFR. Hence the importance in poker of the HUD, to have all these data at hand and to be able to interpret them properly.
Data such as VPIP are not an exact science, that is, they are mere instruments to make an interpretation of the game, but they are not a mantra to be followed blindly. Therefore, it is important for the player to develop critical and analytical skills that allow him to draw accurate conclusions from these data, which are still numbers and statistics.
Another critical point is the type of software used to calculate the VPIP. You should use a program that is up to date, that has the appropriate certificates, and that allows you to extract accurate data from the game.
Otherwise, if the program is outdated and the VPIP obtained does not match the game, the conclusions drawn will be wrong. And that will prevent us from being able to play correctly, just because we have relied on data that are not authentic and have been obtained with a poorly optimized tool.
