WTSD in Poker: Went to Showdown, and What a Good Number Is
WTSD is the stat that catches the leak nobody admits to. Everyone believes they fold enough. The number is decided by the hands you called down anyway, and it remembers all of them.
What WTSD counts
WTSD stands for Went To ShowDown. Out of the hands where you saw a flop, it's the share that ended with cards face up.
The flop condition is the part people miss. Hands you folded before the flop don't appear anywhere in this stat, top or bottom. A rock who folds 80 percent of hands preflop can still have a high WTSD, because the calculation only starts once there's a board.
| What happened | In the denominator? | In the numerator? |
|---|---|---|
| Folded preflop | No | No |
| Saw the flop, folded to a turn bet | Yes | No |
| Saw the flop, everyone folded to your bet | Yes | No |
| Saw the flop, called down, cards turned over | Yes | Yes |
| Saw the flop, got all in on the turn | Yes | Yes |
Notice the third row. Winning a pot with a bet nobody called does nothing to your WTSD except push it down. That's why the stat says as much about your aggression as your calling.
What a good number looks like
| WTSD | Reading |
|---|---|
| Under 22 | Folding too much after the flop |
| 24 to 28 | Where most winning cash players sit |
| 29 to 32 | Loose, and it needs a strong W$SD to be worth it |
| Above 33 | Calling down far too often |
Most winning players land between 24 and 28. Being outside that range isn't proof of anything by itself, and a few strong players sit well above it on purpose, playing a style that wins a lot of small pots and pays off occasionally. What the range is good for is recognising a number that's a long way out.
The second number that makes it readable
WTSD on its own can't tell you whether your showdowns were the right ones. W$SD does, at least partly. It stands for Won money at ShowDown, and it's the share of your showdowns you won.
| WTSD | W$SD | What's usually happening |
|---|---|---|
| 26 | 52 | Healthy. Getting there with hands that hold up |
| 22 | 58 | Folding too much. The hands you bring are very strong |
| 34 | 44 | Calling station. Arriving with hands that lose |
| 30 | 55 | Loose and working. Unusual, but real |
A W$SD near 50 sounds like a coin flip and isn't. Many pots get won with a bet before the river, so the hands reaching showdown are already selected. A winning player usually shows between 50 and 54. Under 47 with a high WTSD is the clearest calling-station signature there is.
Reading the two together is the whole trick:
- High WTSD, low W$SD. You're paying to see the winner. Almost always river calls, and almost always the same kind: a hand that beats a bluff and nothing else, against someone who wasn't bluffing.
- Low WTSD, high W$SD. You only continue with the near-nuts. Opponents can bet into you with anything and take it. Comfortable, expensive.
- Both mid-range. Nothing to fix here. Your money is being won or lost somewhere before the river.
Where a high WTSD actually comes from
It's rarely a decision to call more. It builds from a handful of spots.
- The river call that beats only a bluff. You hold third pair, the board ran out badly for you, the bet is large. Folding feels weak. Calling feels like catching them. Most opponents at low stakes don't bluff enough for this to break even.
- Calling turn bets "to see the river". A turn call commits you to a decision you've already half made, because folding the river after calling the turn feels worse than it is.
- Refusing to fold a pair. One pair wins a lot of pots. It also loses every pot where the money got big, and telling those apart on the river is most of the skill.
- Playing too many hands to begin with. A wide preflop range arrives on the flop with weak pairs and draws, which is the exact raw material a high WTSD is made of. Check your VPIP before blaming the river.
How to fix it without breaking anything
Don't start folding everywhere. Overcorrecting turns a station into a player who can be bet off any pot, which costs money in a quieter way.
Start with one street. Take your river calls, and only the ones where you hold one pair or worse. Sort them by what your opponent's bet size was. You'll usually find the large bets are the ones losing, because the hands people bet large with are the hands that beat you.
Fold the bottom of that group for a few thousand hands. Your WTSD drops two or three points, and your W$SD should climb. If W$SD doesn't move, you cut the wrong hands and it's worth looking again.
For the other side of the same question, PFR covers whether you're taking the lead often enough before any of this comes up.
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Frequently asked questions
What does WTSD stand for?
Went To ShowDown. It's the percentage of hands where, having seen a flop, you were still in at the end with your cards turned over. The flop part matters: hands you folded before the flop aren't in the calculation at all.
What is a good WTSD?
Around 24 to 28 percent for most winning cash players. Below about 22 you're folding away hands that were good enough, and above about 32 you're paying off far too often. Both directions cost money, and the high one costs it faster.
What is the difference between WTSD and W$SD?
WTSD is how often you get to showdown. W$SD is how often you win once you're there. One measures how selective you are, the other measures whether that selectiveness is working. Reading either alone tells you almost nothing.
Does WTSD include hands I won before the river?
No. If everyone folds to your turn bet, there's no showdown, so the hand counts in the denominator but not the top. That's why aggressive players can have a perfectly normal WTSD while playing a lot of pots.
My WTSD is 35. What should I do?
Look at your river calls first, since that's where the money is. The usual cause is calling the last bet with a hand that beats only a bluff, against opponents who rarely bluff. Fold the bottom of your river calling range for a week and watch what happens to your win rate.
Can a low WTSD be a problem?
Yes, though it's a slower leak. Under about 22 you're being bluffed off pots you'd have won, and observant opponents will start betting into you more often once they notice. It survives longer than the opposite leak because folding always feels disciplined.
How many hands do I need before WTSD is reliable?
More than VPIP needs, because it only counts hands that reached a flop. Budget around 5,000 of your own hands for a number you'd act on. For an opponent, treat anything under 500 as a hint rather than a read.