Correct analysis of played hands. Hand analysis using poker combinatorics. There are many examples of results orientation

SB ($71.10) plays 41/28 over 39 hands.

Distribution: I open with A2 to $3.00 and get called by the small blind. The flop is dealt AK5. I check behind my opponent. The turn is a 3. Villain leads $3.50 into $7.00, I raise to $9.00 and he folds.

Analysis: I don't see the point in betting on the flop because I'm not likely to get three streets of value from worse hands. But I can provoke bluffs with a check, hoping that my opponent will manage to “hook” on the board in some way on the turn. When a three of a kind on the turn brings a lot of different draws with it, I decide to raise to get value from the draws and any possible pair an opponent who is under my aces. If my opponent had called my raise, I would have made a small extra bet on many blank rivers, and I would have checked back any diamond or broadway card.

Playing against a donk bet

Now let's look at situations where Villain leads us with a donk bet on the flop. To do this, you need to set the following filters in HoldemManager:

Hero's Postion = Early

Faced Preflop 3 Bet = False

Last to Act on Flop = True

Players On Flop is = 2

Flop Continuation Bet Possible = False

As before, here are a few examples of standard donk-bet folds that don't require a lot of analysis:

Distribution #5

Effective stacks and data on the opponent:

SB ($97.50) plays 67/33 in 33 hands.

Distribution: I open my 66 with a raise and get called by the small blind. The flop comes T54. Villain leads $4.00 into $7.00, I raise to $10.00 and he folds.

Analysis: I am convinced that in this situation my sixes are ahead of the hand of an opponent who is leading this flop with a lot of random cards. The problem with calling is that most of the remaining deck consists of overcards to my sixes, which can improve the opponent on the turn. So I'm fine with finishing the hand right on the flop and taking the pot. Aside from rare wheel draws, the texture of the flop looks pretty dry, which only increases the chance that Villain has some random overcards.

Distribution No. 6

Effective stacks and data on the opponent:

BB ($102) plays 22/18/8 for 1.4k hands.

Distribution: I open with A9 to $2.50 from early position and get called by the big blind. The flop is AJ2. Opponent immediately bets $3.50 into $5.50. I call and the turn comes 8. Villain leads again, this time for $8.00 at $12.50. I call again and the river is dealt 5. Villain bets a third barrel, $16.00 at $28.50, and I fold my hand.

Analysis: Given the dry texture of the flop, there is no reason to raise. I'm not sure exactly what hands are in my opponent's donk betting range in this spot, but I think it should include A2 suited and occasionally pocket deuces. As for very strong hands like AJ and jacks, he would probably check-raise with them. Also, I think Villain would also donk bet with gutshots like KQ, QT and KT. Finally, he may have full air.

On the turn, I faced a fairly large bet from my opponent. And while it might be worth calling against a random fish, against this player who hasn't gone too far in terms of aggression before, I think it was worth just folding on the turn. When I call, I mostly just hope Villain had air on the flop, but then got some extra equity on the turn and decides to fold on the river without further improvement. Generally speaking, calling big bets in situations where I have little idea where I am (in front or behind), and especially when I have the potential to face even bigger bets from my opponent on subsequent streets, is a very negative idea, which I will try to avoid. in the future as much as possible. Without any further reads on the turn, it's best to just fold here.

If you want to improve your poker playing level, then the best thing you can do is to record and then analyze the played hands. But just writing down the played hands and reviewing them is not enough. You must ask yourself the right questions.

There are not many options for constructive analysis. I have detailed an in-depth analysis method in my new book Poker's 1%. If you are interested in this topic and want to know which of the ways to improve your game, in my opinion, is the most effective, read about it in the book.

The first step is to select hands for analysis. I prefer to start with hands that end on the turn or river without a showdown. But any hand that you have worthy questions about is worth considering. You can choose between two and four hands from a session played.

Then you should determine the strategic line of this or that distribution. Considering that poker series is the determining factor in poker, and not individual hands played, in the long run, money is won or lost at the level of struggle strategies. You play according to a certain strategy. If your strategy better strategy opponent, then you will win at a distance. If your strategy is built in such a way as to take advantage of the opponent's weaknesses, then after a while you will simply tear him apart.
Therefore, after you have chosen a hand to analyze, the next step is to determine the key principles of your opponent's strategy.

Let's say you pick a hand that ends on the turn. You are on the button and one of the players before you limped in. This limper is your main opponent. What are the main features of this player's strategy? In an offline no-limit hold'em game, we can assume (especially given the fact that he limped into the pot) that this player is playing a lot preflop. starting hands. Perhaps he likes to watch a lot of flops in the hope of making some decent hands. It is likely that if he misses the flop, he often folds his cards. He prefers to bet one or two streets when he makes a hand - in which case he does it automatically. If you show weakness, he may very well try to steal the bank. Having collected a strong combination, he will try to find a way to provoke you into calling a large bet. For example, by slowplaying or raising on an early street.

This is what his strategy looks like. He sees a lot of flops. Without resistance, sends cards to the fold with a weak combination. In order to use all his options, he actively plays one or two streets when he gets any hand. If he senses the opponent's weakness, he may well try to use a bluff. Having collected a strong combination, this player is trying to get an expensive call.

This is a fairly standard strategy used by many offline players. What are her weaknesses? I counted a few.

1. A player often calls preflop but tends to fold on the flop or turn without a strong hand. This means that you can safely bluff the turn every time your opponent checks, and that alone will probably make the game profitable against that opponent.

2. With a strong hand, this opponent is looking to bet big. This means that you can freely bluff the river when you are in position, even if your turn bluff is called by him. With a strong hand, it will usually be uncomfortable for this opponent to slowplay to the river and then check, leaving you free to go to showdown. Given that his strategy is to get you to call a big bet when he has a strong hand, a check on the river means he's ready to fold.

3. When your opponent bets big, it's usually a strong hand, not a bluff, so you're free to give up trying to catch his bluff.

By understanding his style, we can strategize to counter. Given that our opponent is playing too many hands, our standard plan is to increase the size of the pot as early as possible. And also to bet on the turn and quite often on the river when the opponent checks. At the same time, dump on his large bets. If we develop a strategy (with regards to dealing against this particular opponent) based on his weaknesses, we can win this clash of strategies.

So, back to the analysis of the hand. Now we have a certain strategy in mind, and we must apply it to this hand. Does our play line match our strategy, or are we missing out on an opportunity to apply our approach? Or is it a hand that doesn't require our strategy?

Here are some examples. In each case it will be a hand of a $2-$5 game, our opponent limps preflop, as described earlier, and we are on the button.

First distribution. We have 9-7. We then enter the game by calling. The player in the small blind (SB) also calls, and the big blind (BB) checks. The flop comes Q-J-7. Everyone checks and so do we. The turn is a 5. The blinds check and our opponent bets $10. We send cards to pass.

Second distribution. Our hand is A-7. We raise to $25. The blinds fold and the limper calls. The flop is K-7-6. The limper bets $25, we accept. The turn is Q. He checks, we bet $100 and Villain folds.

Third distribution. We have K.K. We raise to $25. The blinds fold and the limper calls. The flop comes Q-5-4. Villain checks, we bet $40, and he folds.

In the first hand, we missed the opportunity to apply our strategy. Our approach is to bluff the turn and river, and 9-7 on the button is a good hand. We had to raise preflop to form a pot worth stealing. Due to the fact that we did not do this, the players in the blinds ended up in the hand and a situation arose for which we do not have a profitable strategy. In this hand, we missed the opportunity to apply our strategy, and therefore the hand had to be played in a different way.

In the second example, we played according to our strategy. We raised preflop, creating a pot that we can steal on the turn or river. We flopped a pair and called a small bet. There was no reason to give up on this street. Villain's check on the turn gave the green light to our bet, and everything worked out perfectly.

The third hand is an example of a situation where we didn't have to use our strategy. We got a strong hand, made a bet, and the opponent folded the cards.

Our main task is to clearly understand what goal we are pursuing by this or that action. We must see that every little decision we make serves the greater purpose as much as possible. The next time you play, write down two to four hands. And try to develop a strategy that would allow you to beat your opponents in these hands. And then analyze the hands to find out whether you played according to the winning approach or not. If you look at what is happening from this angle, you will become a much more dangerous opponent.

Why parse the hand after it has been played? All situations in can be adjusted to certain patterns. Once you find the most profitable line in a hand, you can apply it to other hands of the same type. In addition, analyzing the distribution, you can find weak spots in own game. Once having identified a problem, the player will not commit it again.

What do we need for this? To fully analyze the hand, we need to have a poker program that can calculate equity. It can be , Equilab, Combonator or one of the online resources. For in-depth analysis, you can use programs such as CardrunnersEV, but this is far from necessary.

How to parse distribution? What to look for and what sequence to follow? Each distribution is unique. It is impossible to come up with a parsing algorithm that is equally suitable for all hands. However, it is possible to set a specific parsing sequence that can be applied to all types of hands.

Step 1 in Debriefing: Compiling an Opponent's Range

First, we ask ourselves the question: with what could this player perform a certain action? For example, we made from early position and the tight player in the big blind 3-bet against us. What cards does he have? He's tight, which means he probably won't 3-bet with a weak hand. He also understands that he will probably play out of position. In addition, he sees what we have done from early position and imagines our cards are more or less strong. Given all of the above factors, we can assume that he is playing strong cards this way. Let's say he has AA, AK, AQs, KK, QQ, JJ.

Step 2 in Debriefing: Debriefing Options

Now you need to decide how to play your hand in the most profitable way. We have three options: , call, 4-bet. We evaluate each of the options separately.

1. Fold. By simply folding our cards, we will not win money and we will not lose more than we have already invested in the pot.
2. Col. When calculating the profitability of a call, it is necessary to take into account the strength of our hand, the probabilities of hitting in and the estimated . Each time these values ​​will be different.
3. 4-bet At this stage, we ask ourselves the question: how often will our opponent fold to a 4-bet? Let's assume he folds JJ, AQs, AK. AA, KK, QQ remain in his calling range. Please note, this is not 50/50. There are 6 combinations for each pocket pair, 12 combinations for the combination of ace with king and only 4 combinations for AQs. Villain folds 22 combos out of 40 possible, so the folding frequency is 55%. Now we evaluate the profitability of the action. At 55% we will win the pot, and at 45% we are up against a range of AA, KK and QQ.

Debriefing Step 3: The Lesser of Two Evils

We always strive to choose the most optimal draw line. Sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where all the lines are negative. Many in this case simply decide to fold the cards. They justify this by the fact that it has a zero mathematical expectation. This is not true. If we have already invested money in the bank and discarding the cards, we will lose money for the distribution. AT certain moment time, the fold does indeed have a zero expected value, but by folding the entire line of play takes a negative result. Sometimes it's more profitable to 4bet and lose 2bb per hand than to fold after investing 4bb beforehand.

Debriefing Step 4: Adjusting Ranges

After each action taken by the opponent, it is necessary to narrow his range. He won't play the same in every situation with his entire range. Having made the adjustment, it is necessary to make all the calculations again.

“To get to the poker Olympus, you need to constantly learn” - this is the idea that has been imposed on us, ordinary players for many years. There is nothing wrong with watching various instructional videos and articles in poker schools. However, the main vein of learning has always been under our noses - it is the analysis of our own hands. And if there is another one nearby experienced player and will help with this matter, then we can consider that we are very lucky.

Why is distribution needed? To save on your mistakes! Usually a poorly played hand is used for consideration. After the game session, we must choose our worst hands and try to find the most profitable hand development. All this is done because almost the same situations are repeated quite often in poker. For example, having analyzed the line of drawing a flush draw against a loose opponent, we will definitely know the plan of action next time. If you manage to identify the problem in your distribution and find a solution, then such an error is unlikely to happen again.

For a good analysis of hands, special programs would not hurt. All users of Hold'em Manager can easily find all the necessary played hands after the game session, as the entire history is recorded on the computer. Next, you need a program for calculating equity. It can be Equilab, CardrunnersEV or any special online calculator.

Now you need to decide on the sequence. Despite the great variety game situations, there is a certain algorithm by which you can parse most of the hands:

1. Determine the opponent's range. In order to correctly assess your chances in the hand, you need to roughly understand what cards your opponent might have? Let's say we open with UTG, the cut-off and the button call, and the tight-passive player in the small blind 3-bets. In this case, we think the SB has a monster on hand, and here's why: his playstyle is very infrequently action-packed, and here he's 3-betting out of position against an early raise and two limpers. Pocket aces, kings, queens, jacks, maybe even a "big slick" - only such cards can this opponent have.
2. We choose development options. After the received 3-bet, we have only three options for the development of the hand: call, 4-bet or fold. If we just fold, there will be neither a win nor a big loss. To call a 3-bet, we need to consider the strength of our own hand, the pot odds, and the possible range of opponents involved in the hand. For example, it is sometimes very profitable to play low suited connectors against a few tight players with a narrow range. Finally, consider the 4-bet option. Here the biggest attention should be paid to your cards and how often the opponent folds to re-raises. Are we ready to go all the way with this hand? We need to know the answer to this question from the start, since folding after our opponent's 5-bet will deprive us of most of the chips.
3. We draw conclusions. Having decided on the opponent's range and choosing the necessary variant of the development of the distribution, we only have to correct the opponent's range and work out a plan of action for similar situations. Let's say a loose-aggressive player instead of a tight-passive player makes a 3-bet. What to do in this case? Here it is more necessary to look at the strength of your hand. Most likely, our 4-bet will be followed by an all-in, fold good cards against aggressive players is not the case, so the only thing left is to call. A good board hit and we'll hit a good pot since our opponent is likely to bet multiple streets.

Do not be upset if you cannot immediately find the best option for a particular case. Sometimes it happens that any decision is negative, and then you have to choose the lesser of two evils. When parsing hands, it is necessary to take into account as many different factors as possible that affect the correctness of the decision. At first, we need to do this immediately after the game, but with experience, any player can learn how to make positive moves right during the current hand.

Analyzing your hands (and your opponents' hands) is by far the best way to improve your game, because it allows you to find your leaks and learn from your own mistakes. This means that you can change the decisions you make at the poker tables and finally achieve good results that will bring you victory.

But here's the thing... You can't figure out what to change unless you analyze your hands to see where you went wrong (or vice versa)!

Most people do not analyze their hands at all and do not try to find leaks. And it's just crazy if you set out to become a very successful poker player.

In this article, we will look at how to analyze your hands and how to direct leaks in the right direction.

Use programs to collect statistics if you play online poker

If you are an online player, then you need to use poker programs such as PokerTracker or Hold'em Manager. These programs record the history of every hand you play and then let you review them step by step whenever you want. They also provide you with a lot of specific data and statistics about you and your opponents.

You can also use the HUD (Heads Up Display) to place this information next to your opponents at the poker tables.

The PokerTracker program is probably the most complex and at the same time the simplest. It allows you to study your opponents' play in more detail and analyze every aspect of your own play.

It also includes extensive filters to help you pinpoint exactly where your problem areas are. We will look at how to use the program right now.

Finally, these programs are essential for an online player because they allow you to track your results and also display them in a graph. Thus, you will always know exactly where you are. No more guesswork.

If you are serious about online poker then try the free trial version. And it doesn't matter if you plan to use the HUD or not.

Most people don't realize that HUDs are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what these programs can do to improve your game.

How to analyze your poker hands

So, as mentioned above, the main reason to use the program is to analyze hands. Over time, it is not necessary to review everything after each session played. You need to analyze most of the bad hands in order to learn from your mistakes.

in poker we either win or we learn. Let this be your motto.

When you win, you know that you probably did a lot of things right. Most people tend to play correctly when they are lucky. However, if they lost, then they played certain hands poorly. Maybe they were unlucky, so they lost, but you need to make sure of this.

So, before you start analyzing your poker hands, you need to verify that you are downloading hand histories from a poker site.

Hand histories are text files from which PokerTracker captures and processes all information. This also includes the data used, which allows you to reproduce your hands and analyze them in more detail.

Most poker rooms will have an option in the lobby to simply download their hand histories. Make sure that this option is possible and your history will be saved on your computer.

Then go to PokerTracker and check that the hands are transferred to the program.

Make sure you select a box Play Poker(play poker), which is at the top, and then double-check the poker room settings at the bottom.

And finally click "Get Hands While Playing"(get hands while playing) and all your hands will be automatically recorded by PokerTracker.

The next thing you have to do is adjust the settings so that you only receive hands from the last session.

Click on the box "View Stats"(see statistics) and make sure you enter the date today(today) and the limit you are playing at.

After that, your played hands will immediately be loaded into the history. Click on the box "won column"(win column) to sort the most winning and the most losing pots.

To pop up the replayer window and start browsing your hands, just click right click mouse on hand and then select "replay hand"(reproduce hand).

You can also use the "shift" button on your keyboard to select as many hands as you want and put them all in the replayer at once (recommended).

Now as you go through each hand step by step, ask yourself the following 3 questions:

• What type of player?
• What is your opponent's range here?
• What is the most appropriate variant of the game in this situation?

If you think you've made the best decisions at every stage of a hand, then just accept the result and move on to the next hand.

However, if you feel like you've made sub-optimal decisions (calling when to raise or fold), then you can learn from that when you encounter a similar situation in the future.

Let's look at an example

Hand analysis example - double barrel with an overpair against a nit

NL10 - 6-max

Hero raises in early position with aces of diamonds and hearts (A♢A♡). A nit's opponent calls on the button.

Flop:​ 4♡5♧9♤​

Hero bets. Villain calls.

Turn: ​8♢

Hero bets again. Opponent raises. Hero goes all-in.

This is a great example of a hand where you can immediately spot a big mistake. This is a serious leak that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. The reason is directly related to the type of players. In this case, the player type is nit. When such a tight/passive opponent raises on the turn or river after our double barrel, we are almost always beaten.

It doesn't matter that we have a strong AA overpair here. The line that this particular player took here clearly indicates that he has 2 pair or better. It's likely that he has a set on this board with hands like: 44, 55, 99, or 88.

This means that in this situation, his range completely beats our hand with one pair. The ideal decision in the game would be to fold. In fact, our game was far from ideal, and folding here is the right decision. Therefore, by analyzing this hand, you can see a big leak and the next time a similar situation arises, make a better decision.

Poker is a real-time game under pressure

It is not a fact that next time at the most crucial moment you will play correctly. Still, poker is easy in theory, but in reality everything is different. When there is pressure and you have to "fight", it's hard to always play the right game.

The essence of this analysis is to remind yourself of the mistakes that cost you money. Sooner or later you will get tired of losing and you will make the necessary adjustments to the game. It can take a long time to finally come to the conclusion that you should fold in this spot, where you double-barrel and a nit raises you.

Most people go on making those bad calls, stupid bluffs, and skipping value bets for years and never learn anything. This is one of the main reasons why they never get the results they want.

That's why regular session review and key hand analysis is so important. This allows you to soberly evaluate all the bad decisions you have made and leads to self-control and change in the situation.

Search and elimination of faces

Another extremely valuable feature of PokerTracker is that you can use it to find your leaks and eliminate them.

More precisely, this means that you can run filters on your entire database of hands and find specific problem areas. And, much more importantly, for yourself, you can see the original information in these situations. Is your game profitable or unprofitable? The numbers don't lie.

For example, you can analyze a situation where you:

• 3bet out of position
• Taken all the money preflop
• Put a double barrel
• Floated on the flop and then bet on the turn
• Bluffing on the river, etc.

You also have the opportunity to study one particular hand in more detail. For example, you can run a filter on all AK shoves preflop and see if you are in a winning position or not. The possibilities are endless and the data you get is incredibly useful.

In order to go to the "filter" window, make sure you click "View Stats"(see statistics). Then click "All Dates"(all dates) and click on below More Filters(more filters).

Let's focus on situations where you lose (i.e. negative outcomes). For example, if it is stated that you lose money when you double barrel the turn, as in the previous example, then you have a problem.

because winning player should show profit in this situation. So, this is a leak in the game that needs to be eliminated. You need to filter this particular situation, and then attach a lot of hands to the replayer and start analyzing them one by one.

And again, you need to know:

• What type of player?
• What is your opponent's range in this situation?
• What is the best way to play in this situation?

Such information will help you to find out the reason for the loss in this situation. You may not be considering the range of the nit, as noted. But the reason could be something else, such as trying to bluff too much with recreational autocallers.

You can sit for hours and analyze one particular situation and review dozens of hands until you finally understand why you are losing. Based on this, you can adjust your game.

In order to make sure that the changes in the game are correct, it is advisable to review the data again after a month or so. You will probably see that you are already profitable in this situation.

In a nutshell, this is what you can use to progress in the game. Chances are 95% of your opponents at the micros don't do this.

You can't always win at poker

It is important to note here that some poker situations will not be profitable no matter how hard you try. A classic example of this is playing in the blinds.

You can't win at blind poker no matter how much you good player even if your name is Negreanu or Ivy. Due to the basic structure of the game (forcing money into the pot every time with a random hand and playing out of position), the blinds are simply non-winning positions for poker table.

However, poker is more of a game where every inch still counts, and losing a little can have a major positive impact on your overall win rate. But you still have to analyze hands and improve your blind play, even if it's impossible to make a profit from these positions.

The bottom line is, if you really want to figure out what's stopping you at the poker table, then analyze your hands and Pokertracker - the best option to find their faces.

This will allow you to "dig" to the source and find specific problems.

It is also recommended to analyze the game of the best regulars in these situations. A big plus of such programs is that you collect hand history on them too. The best regs in your games win big for no reason. Learn from their game!

Don't chalk up your poker success to chance. Dive into the work, not only playing at the tables, but also use Pokertracker, and you will notice an improvement in the results.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, it's not that hard to work with the Pokertracker program. Many mistakenly believe that these programs are only good for HUD (i.e. getting all the statistics on the screen during the game).

In reality, the opposite is true.

The main goal of these programs is to analyze your game, find leaks and improve results. Study the game of your opponents and develop effective strategies to defeat them.

Start following these 2 tips more often and you will notice that your results are constantly improving.

Translation: Dubova Diana