Analyzing Texas Hold’em hands after a Session

Successful poker is about more than just what happens at the poker table, no matter if you’re a freeroll player or a high-roller. Preparation and study combined with focus, intelligence and discipline are what separates the consistent winners from the occasional ones. One effective method of preparation that all poker players looking to improve should consider is analyzing hands after a session.

Why Analyze Texas Hold’em hands?

The reason professional poker players are able to make money is that there is a steady stream of players who attribute their losses simply to the luck of the cards. They remember the times they missed their flush draw and the times someone caught a three-outer to beat them, but rarely remember the hands where they got lucky or the situations where they could have avoided getting into a big pot that they shouldn’t have been in the first place. The nature of poker is that sometimes bad play is rewarded, reinforcing that bad play. Therefore, you may be playing a hand incorrectly every time and never know it unless you analyze afterwards.

When Should You Analyze Your Texas Hold’em hands?

It’s probably best to analyze Texas Holdem hands as soon as possible after a session, since the hands and what you were thinking during them is fresh in your mind. While you should analyze after winning sessions as well, it’s good to analyze after a losing session because you are more motivated to determine whether you just got unlucky or you really did too many things wrong.

How Should You Analyze Texas Hold’em hands?

If you play Texas Holdem online, you should get the site to send you hand histories. You can then analyze the histories by yourself or using a program like Poker Tracker to help you figure out where you are going right and where you are going wrong. You can learn what percentage of flops you see and how many times you win at the showdown, as well as what kinds of hands you most frequently win with and other useful statistical information.

If you play live poker, it’s a good idea to get a group of poker playing friends who can meet or go online to discuss hands. You can get a few different ideas to help you determine if you played a particular hand correctly. Even if your poker buddies aren’t experts, getting a number of different viewpoints on a situation can help you crystallize your own thoughts. Of course, you should also be ready to analyze their hands, and you’ll probably learn quite a bit from doing that as well.