PFR
Preflop Raise — how often a player raises before the flop. Read beside VPIP, it separates genuine aggression from mere looseness.
PFR is the second number on the HUD and the one that tells you what kind of trouble you are in. It counts the share of hands a player raises before the flop — opening, three-betting, four-betting. Since you cannot raise a hand you never played, PFR is always less than or equal to VPIP, and the interesting information lives in the distance between them.
A player at 24/21 is raising nearly every hand they play. They arrive with initiative, they hold the betting lead on the flop, and their range is capped nowhere. A player at 24/8 plays the same number of hands and raises a third of them: two thirds of their range arrives by calling, which is a range full of small pairs and suited cards that missed. Same VPIP, opposite opponents.
Solid six-handed regulars run around 18–22% PFR with a gap of two to five points over their VPIP. A gap wider than ten points is the classic passive leak — the player who limps, calls raises, and turns their whole strategy into hoping to hit. That is the profile you value-bet thin against and almost never bluff.
The beginner error is chasing a high PFR for its own sake. Raising 30% of hands from under the gun is not aggression, it is a losing range played fast; the number is only healthy if the hands inside it are the right ones. Position sets the ceiling: the same player should be near 15% under the gun and near 45% on the button, and one blended figure hides both.
FAQ
What does PFR mean in poker?
Preflop Raise: the percentage of hands a player raises before the flop, counting opens, three-bets and four-bets. It sits next to VPIP on a HUD and shows how much of a player's range arrives with the betting lead rather than by calling.
What is a good VPIP PFR ratio?
A gap of two to five points is healthy — something like 24/21 six-handed. A gap wider than ten points means most of the hands are being called rather than raised, which is the standard passive leak and the easiest profile to value-bet against.
Can PFR be higher than VPIP?
No. Every raise is also a voluntary chip into the pot, so a raised hand is counted by both stats. PFR above VPIP means the sample is broken, not that the player is unusually aggressive.