Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009 - by Randy Barron  

How to use Online Poker Hand Histories?

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The picture on the left shows one hand history in a NL5k Texas Hold'em game played at PokerStars.

What is called a hand history is the text file on the right side of the picture. The left side of the picture shows this hand replayed in a hand history replayer.

Online poker is different from live poker for many reasons. One development that was never possible until a few years ago with the advent of poker on the Internet is the availability of the entire history of all your poker actions at the virtual table.

Online Poker Hand Histories: software implementation

What is a hand history? This is simply a text file, which records all actions which took place during a hand, like Player X fold, Player Y raise to $20 at the turn, etc. The recording follows the same sequence as what really happens at the table. You can enlarge the picture above to see an example.

All the online poker card rooms that I know offer to record and store your hand histories automatically. Usually the only thing that you need to do when you join a new room is to set up the hand collection process. The software menu may ask you if you want to keep hand histories and in which directory you want to keep them.

Such hand histories text files are just the raw input into a number of more sophisticated tools that will enable you to analyze these historical records.

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The first type of tool is a hand history replayer. One example was shown on the left side of the top picture. Hand replayers are graphical tools showing a poker table, which can read the hand history files and replay then like a movie. They are included in most poker sites. It is much more entertaining to use them than to read a dry hand history file line by line.

Hand history converters are another type of valuable poker tools. They convert the raw text files into a more readable format, erasing unnecessary information and using pictures of cards. Enlarge the right picture to see that once converted, hand histories are easier to analyze.

Hand history databases are more sophisticated programs which use hand histories as input and reorganize the data in totally different ways. The software tools rearranging the data are called hand history parsers. Your local database then feeds into poker tracker programs such as Holdem Manager, which provide advanced statistical analysis capabilities.

Finally hand history datamining software are tools producing supplemental hand histories in which you did not play. This is a way to augment your database and gather information about your opponents. The easiest way to do that is to buy hand histories in bulk. Cheaply adding a few million hands into your database will make a difference, as information is power.

Online Poker Hand Histories: shore up your poker leaks

Once you have discovered the tool and format that best fits your needs, reviewing your hand histories will help you improve your game. We all have leaks in our game, which are like small time bombs. Analyze your hand histories to discover and plug them.

Interestingly Holdem Manager includes a hand replayer. Review the session you just played by selecting the largest lost and won pots and replay them. This is an excellent method to detect errors and potential leaks.

The nice thing about hand history replayers is that they let you see your opponents' hole cards from the beginning of the hand (assuming showdown), so you can get a feel of how people play poker against you. Discover how you were bluffed with air or how you made a bad call against a monster hand by replaying hands.

Poker tracker software are more advanced programs which allow you to perform in depth statistical analyses based on your history. Some players have played millions of online poker hands, but even a few hundreds or thousands is enough to reveal your tendencies and leaks.

In order to perform leak analysis, you can start with elementary statistics such as VPIP/PFR/AG. The numbers must remain within a reasonable range if you want to be a profitable poker player.

These are the first statistics to conquer. Next, the second level statistics are numbers such as how often you steal the blinds, how often you fold the blinds to a raise, how often you see a showdown, how often you c-bet, etc.

Third level statistics are subtle tendencies that only the most sophisticated database queries can uncover. For example, do you tend to 3-bet allin with aces at the flop on risky boards against a maniac? This is the level of granularity that can be reached with these databases. All because of the hand histories.