Hand Histories. What should I be looking for?

[Sark79]

I have just listened to an old Circuit episode with Mike Matasow, on it he mentioned using hand histories to learn what the "Donkeys" were calling him down with.  Everyone is a Donkey as far as he is concerned 

While I was playing tonight on Stars, I looked at the hand histories but found I am not bright enough to get very much from it  .  What should I be looking for?   

thanks

[Longy]

After every days play i look through my hand histories which i have stored in poker tracker. What i tend to look is all the big pots (win or lose)  i played and honestly look if i played each street right. If i am unsure whether i played something right i will ask someone who i think can play.

When it comes to specifics its difficulty, I or anyone else can only help really if we see the hand history ourselves.

[Sark79]

I had poker tracker for a while, but couldn't really get alot from it.  I like the idea of seeing others folded cards though if that is possible.  I always thought that would be against the rules, Mike said he could though

[mikkyT]

Some sites show the opponents hand even if he folds

[Sark79]

That must give away alot of trade secrets of the players

[I, Zimbra]

Only hands that went to showdown (and are subsequently mucked) get stored in trackers.

[Ironside]

stars show all hands that are involved in a showdown even if the player mucks them

this allows you to check out how loose or tight certain players are and learn how they player certain hands

this is another reason why you need to vary your play

[BrumBilly]

Yep, the instant hand history on Stars is a great facility. Helps u spot chasers and bluffs more easily.

[Pab]

The rules state that any hand that goes to showdown, the winner can request to see the losers cards. In live poker this is generally considered bad ettiquette so people rarely do it unless it is to needle someone. On the internet you can check this information via the hand history function. As far as i know this is available on all sites except good old tribeca which is a real pain in the arse as its where i play most of my cash games

[Graham C]

I'm a bit like you on this Sark.  I normally look at the hand history of every hand that I win that's for a sizeable pot to see what the other guy is betting with.  If I see that he's happy to call with carp then I'll also make a note on this.  You can also see if he's likely to call bets to flush/straight draws and again, I'll try and make notes on this.

It ties in (for me anyway) with player notes.  I'm never that confident on the sort of thing that I should be writing in here either.  I tend to put stuff like "called 3xbb raise with KQo" or "slow played AA from late position" - I don't think it will ever come in that useful but at least I have an idea. 

Oh and I try and remember to date my notes and I never rely on them just incase they are out of date, someone else playing on the account or they have a change of tactic.  It does just make me aware that I've faced them before and gives me something to look out for too.

[Royal Flush]

The rules state that any hand that goes to showdown, the winner can request to see the losers cards. In live poker this is generally considered bad ettiquette so people rarely do it unless it is to needle someone. On the internet you can check this information via the hand history function. As far as i know this is available on all sites except good old tribeca which is a real pain in the arse as its where i play most of my cash games

I like it, i don't want people seeing what i raised with!

[M3boy]

I wonder why?!?!? 

[matt674]

Sark - you got a memory like a sieve!!

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=8002.0

[Claw75]

The rules state that any hand that goes to showdown, the winner can request to see the losers cards. In live poker this is generally considered bad ettiquette so people rarely do it unless it is to needle someone. On the internet you can check this information via the hand history function. As far as i know this is available on all sites except good old tribeca which is a real pain in the arse as its where i play most of my cash games

I like it, i don't want people seeing what i raised with!

me too!

[matt674]

While I was playing tonight on Stars, I looked at the hand histories but found I am not bright enough to get very much from it  .  What should I be looking for?   

Pretend you are going to write a report like the one i did for "a chip and a chair". Anaylize the hands as though you were trying to explain to someone why you played each hand in the way you did.

Profitable poker is trying to maximize your profit on the winning hands and minimizing the losses on your losing hands. Sometimes you will spot areas in your game where you can reduce the losses - are you calling down too much with hands that are beat, are you chasing too many draws? Sometimes you will see areas in your game where you could maximize the profit on your winning hands even further - do you think you could have extracted more from your opponents with a value bet on the river, would check-raising an aggresive opponent extracted more chips than betting out on a flop you have hit?

As you gain more experience from playing you will learn to read the game better and it will be easier to spot hands where it is obvious you are beat or where it isnt profitable to chase after your draw - reading through the occasional hand history may just help in jogging your memory and speed up the process of being able to read the game better.