AK unimproved, whats your play?

[BenA]

Bernie, actually I think you said better what I was trying to get across in my 'complaint' post. I agree with you 100%, observation gets the job done in a short period of time, plus validate numbers with a shorter sample size. And I also agree with Phosix that people often just throw some numbers up there to justify random decisions.

I use Poker Ace, and the only way it really helps is 1) the stats are inordinately large 2) combined with notes I've taken and recent observations these are dynamite and 3) Often marginal decisions such as calldowns or value betting are helped tremendously if you have a huge sample size. Say you've got someone with a went to showdown stat of 65%, a huge VPIP and a small AF over 2000 hands. This makes a decision between checking between and value betting a good but not great hand easy.

Otherwise, I think that stats can often hurt more than they help if they are treated like the ten commandments and not combined with true observation. I think that's what Phosix meant in another post when he said PT could hurt your live game. Sure, if PA-Hud is all you use for reads, you'll be a virtual fish with no powers of discernment at a live table.