Inside Poker Software with Jon Van Fleet (apestyles): Part 1

We are excited to be interviewing poker pro, renowned author, and coach Jon Van Fleet, whom many of you know as apestyles.  He is a former #3 ranked online tournament player in the world according to PocketFives and has compiled over $5 million in online tournament cashes.  apestyles is also a guru in high-stakes MTTs and has been known to play cash games as well.

PokerSoftware: What poker software are you currently using?

Jon Van Fleet: When I travel, I use my Macbook, so I'm limited on options.  I currently use PokerTracker 3 on my Mac, but had Holdem Manager 1 on my PC.  Because I've been traveling for two years, I haven't used my desktop for poker for a long time.  I love Macs, but they are actually much worse for poker than PCs, in my opinion.

PokerSoftware: Have you considered using any other Mac software such as Poker Copilot?

Jon Van Fleet: PokerTracker was the first software I ever used.  I believe it was also the first tracking program out.  So, it just seemed natural to use an interface that I understood for the Mac. I never really considered using Poker Copilot until I ran into some bugs in PT3.  Still, I have no actual experience with Poker Copilot, but have heard good things.  However, at the moment, I use other programs in conjunction with PT3, so I have no plans on switching over.

PokerSoftware: What statistics do you utilize the most in your HUD?

Jon Van Fleet: I primarily use VPIP %, PFR %, 3Bet %, Attempt to Steal %, and Continuation Bet %.  However, I find that the most important stat in tournament poker is none of those.  The most important information is how often players are Raising First In (RFI %) from each position.  If you think about PFR %, it is fairly useless stat that doesn't tell you that much.  Unlike RFI %, it lumps all raises in together.  I would also utilize the Fold to 3Bet % statistic, but PokerTracker 3's Fold to 3Bet stat is absolutely useless because it counts every time you fold to a 3Bet without having VPIP’d.

Also, in every major hand I play, I click the drop-down menu called "Sidenote" to get more specific stats. I mainly use the HUD itself to identify fish or someone who is way out of line at a glance.

PokerSoftware: Do you use any software to assist with multi-tabling like auto hotkeys?

Jon Van Fleet: I actually do not currently use any hotkey software.  However, I did use Table Ninja on my PC and I miss it because I find myself timing out on Full Tilt Poker semi-regularly.  I've found that I am not a great, or even good, mass-tabler, so the need for this software is less than it would be if I were playing dozens of tables.  I generally play six to eight tables and think that my edge comes with observation, taking my time with decisions, typing out my bets, etc.  I'm old; give me a break.

Next time out, we'll grill Van Fleet about his HUD and ask him what he thinks about popular poker tracking sites.

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