Everything You Need To Know About VPIP in Poker

Before we get into the nitty-gritties, it’s better for us to begin by defining what VPIP poker is, for the sake of the laymen reading. VPIP poker in full is voluntary put in pot, which can be best described as the amount of money put in the pot, or the statistic that precedes the flop. The VPIP is calculated in percentages, meaning the player’s game will be greatly affected by the percentage of his or her VPIP.

For instance, if a player has a 1% VPIP, then they are only going to be limited to making a call with, let’s says kings and Aces only. If their VPIP is a bit higher than that, then they can make calls with more cars as well as the Kings and Aces. These percentages are incredibly important because they happen to be the fundamental basis of a majority of poker tracking software. Now that we are fully aware of what VPIP is, let’s check out the different types of VPIP poker:

Types of VPIP

Now that you have a vague idea of what VPIP is all about, we can now comfortably discuss the different types of VPIP. The first one on our list is none other than a low VPIP. A low VPIP can be best described as playing with a VPIP as low as 14% or below. Another type of VPIP is a high VPIP and that has a percentage of 40 and above.

When a player has a low VPIP, then it means they are playing tight since they have limited opportunities to work with. The latter will limit them and can’t play more hands especially when it comes to most +EV situations. That said, if you are playing against anyone with a VPIP that’s below 14%, then you can adjust your game with the goal of getting the better of them by playing smart.

On the contrary, if you are playing with someone who has a high VPIP, which means +40% and above, then they are playing very loose. Again, having that kind of knowledge at the tips of your fingers will allow you to make the necessary adjustments and get to do so accordingly.

Types of players according to VPIP

The first type of player is the tight player. As described above, this kind of player has a VPIP that’s lower than 14%. These are way too few options thanks to the few hands that a player has at their disposal. The second type of player is the semi-tight player. In this case scenario, the player has a VPIP between 14-23%. In this case, the players come with a few good hands they can take full advantage of and stand a chance to win some good amounts of money.

The third type of player is the semi-loose player whose VPIP stands between 23 and 32%. As expected, players that fall under this category have a few more hands which come with its advantages and disadvantages.

The fourth type of player is the loose player. The VPIP of such a player lies between 32% and 40%. The player in this category will always be playing way too many hands and you have to possess exceptional post flop skills if you are to stand a chance to win. Finally, there is the extremely loose player.

The player in this fifth and final category has a VPIP that’s over 40%. In most cases, the players lying in this category are only looking to enjoy the gambling action rather than win any money.

How to use VPIP in poker

Once you understand what VPIP is, then using it should be as easy as telling a B from a bull’s foot (if they still use such dictums). As mentioned earlier, a player’s VPIP can range from 1% all the way to 100%. If yours is at 1%, then you can only make calls using two cards, that’s Kings and Aces. But if your VPIP stands at 100%, then it mean you’ll have the chance to make a call with whichever card that you have on your hands.

To further understand how a player will get affected by the VPIP percentages, you might want to get your hands on a quick guide to hand ranges. Thankfully, the latter is information that can be found readily available online. For instance, a player with a 10% VPIP can make calls using QJs, KQs, suited aces, AQ, “pairs 66+, and AK. The latter only applies in a Texas Hold’em online game. Note that the latter applies differently in different poker games, which makes the whole thing intriguing.

It is also important to remember that your VPIP is only calculated using the money that you put in there. Therefore, big blind as well as small blind doesn’t count towards either increasing or reducing your VPIP because you didn’t put it there voluntarily.

Conclusion

As you’ve already seen, there’s a lot of information that has been left out about VPIP, its percentages and how they affect different games. Therefore, it would be in your best interest to take as much time as you can afford to learn everything that needs to be learned about VPIP before hitting any poker table, whether it’s online or at a casino. Doing so will greatly improve your odds thus increasing your chances of winning.

Practice makes perfect, you should therefore take some time to learn all about VPIP because understanding it takes skill. Also, make sure you’re doing your own research because that’s the only way you’ll get better. Once you get better, it’ll be easy for you to make decisions as you’ll know how your opponents play.

There are those players who play tight and others who play loose. You can use that to your advantage at every game thus increasing your chances of winning every game. Finally, understanding how VPIP works can be a pain on your backside at first. But if you’re resilient enough to keep learning, you’ll start understanding its importance and even get to the point of enjoying the whole thing.