Analzye Poker Hand Histories Like a Pro
Analyzing poker hand histories like a pro is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your game. The key is not just to review what happened, but to break down why you (or your opponent) made certain decisions, and what adjustments could be made. Here’s a structured process that pros use:
1. Start with Context
- Game type & format: Cash vs. tournament, stakes, blinds, antes, stack depths.
- Player profiles: Loose, tight, passive, aggressive. Note any reads or HUD stats if available.
- Table dynamics: Who’s tilted, who’s short-stacked, who’s pressuring.
This frames the decisions before even looking at the cards.
2. Preflop Analysis
Ask:
- Position: Was the open/flat/3-bet consistent with good positional strategy?
- Range vs. range: What hands should each player likely have given their action?
- Sizing: Was raise/3-bet sizing optimal (big enough for value, small enough for risk management)?
3. Postflop Street-by-Street
For each street, analyze:
- Flop
- Who has the range advantage? Who has the nut advantage?
- Was continuation betting justified based on board texture?
- Were check/raises or calls consistent with good balance?
- Turn
- Did the card change the equity distribution (favor Hero or Villain)?
- Was the bet sized appropriately (value, bluff, protection)?
- Should Hero continue barreling, check, or give up?
- River
- What value hands are betting? What bluffs are realistic?
- Are we getting the right price to call vs. fold?
- Is the sizing polarizing (nuts vs. air) or merged?
4. Math Check
- Pot odds: Did the call/fold decision match the equity needed?
- Implied odds: Was it profitable to chase draws given future payoff?
- Fold equity: Was the bluff likely to succeed given villain tendencies?
5. Exploitative vs. GTO
- GTO lens: Was the play theoretically sound (balanced, unexploitable)?
- Exploitative lens: Given villain tendencies, was deviation correct (e.g., over-bluffing vs. nit)?
6. Identify Mistakes and Alternatives
- Ask: What was my goal this street (value, bluff, pot control, induce)?
- Was there a better line? e.g., check-call vs. bet-fold.
- Did I play my hand face-up or did I mix it well?
7. Take Notes & Track Patterns
- Write down recurring leaks (too loose preflop, bluffing wrong boards, calling too thin on river).
- Spot opponents’ tendencies from their histories.
8. Use Hand Histories (like pros do)
Pros don’t just review hand histories—they turn them into a training tool and a database of leaks. Here’s how they use them:
- Import hands into PokerTracker, Holdem Manager, Hand2Note, DriveHUD, etc.
- Database review: Spot statistical leaks over big samples.
- Create filters:
- “3-bet pots OOP”
- “C-bet turn after flop c-bet”
- “River calls vs overbets”
This lets you study specific situations instead of just random hands.
- Run Ranges, Not Just Hands
- Input spots into Flopzilla / Equilab to check equities.
- Build Villain ranges street by street.
- Don’t ask “Who won?”—ask “Was this profitable against this range?”
- Compare to Solvers
- Load hands into PioSOLVER, GTO+, Simple Postflop or GTOWizard.
- Look at recommended frequencies: Did you bet/check at the right frequency? Did your sizing make sense?
- Take solver outputs as baselines, then adjust exploitatively based on player pool.
- Study Opponents
- Who folds to 3-bets too often?
- Who over-bluffs rivers?
- Who never folds top pair?
Pros review villains’ histories, not just their own, to build counter-strategies. And they don’t just analyze single hands—they spot recurring leaks.
Examples:
- Losing in “3-bet pots OOP” = probably defending too wide.
- Always losing with “river hero calls” = overcalling.
- Rarely winning “turn barrels” = bluffing wrong boards.
These patterns are more valuable than individual results. But you need a huge database to identify these patterns with confidence. This is where our hhDealer service comes into play. You can buy millions of Hold’em (NLH) and Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) cash game and Tournament hand histories and reiceive them within minutes to know your opponents.
