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In poker, analysis is key, so do not ignore statistics. It is used not only to analyze your own game, but also to analyze your opponents in order to make more informed decisions against them. This information allows you to see clearly how your opponents play, conduct in-depth analysis and more. Moreover, hand history mining can become a solid foundation for a winning game, so let us look at it in more detail.
Why do you need a hand history?
To improve the efficiency of strategies, professional players constantly monitor statistics and analyze their actions during the game. If you download hand history from PokerStarts or any other room and analyze it using specific software, you can get a comprehensive assessment of other players’ tactics. This way, you can discover common mistakes and find out lines you should avoid to make your game less predictable.
Hand history is a collection of data from the hands a hero has played. It contains information about players’ cards, actions at the table, etc. Online rooms often offer clients the opportunity to track statistics for subsequent analysis of their own game and their opponents. Standard hand history includes following information:
- Players’ hole cards;
- Bets and pot size;
- The result (who gets the reward).
However, not all rooms give access to all info. Some give more and some less. For example, on PokerStars, players can get the following data:
- Table name;
- Result (in dollars);
- Game start and end timestamps.
Regardless of the amount of data, it is recommended to the player to regularly review the history. This will allow you to evaluate your own game, find leaks and assess your bankroll dynamics.
How to get to PokerStars Hand History?
You can find your hand history in the PokerStars client in your Personal Account. How to view hand history:
- Click on your login in the top-right part of the window;
- In the pop-up window, click on the “Hand History” button.
Cash table hands and tournament games are saved separately. The page displays relevant PokerStars statistics, in particular information on all cash games and tournaments.
How to download hand history?
Currently, the clients can’t save stats in the room, but you have unlimited access to watch it. Perhaps in the future there will be access to downloading data as well, so you should know how to download hand histories from PokerStars and other online rooms.
The process is usually the same across all platforms. You need to open the page with statistics and click on the “Download” or “Export” button. Within a few minutes or seconds (depending on the amount of data), the room application will finish downloading the history.
Statistics analysis
To evaluate strategies and games, professionals take into account a number of indicators. Those could be analyzed in PokerTracker or Holdem Manager and others. What stats should you pay attention to:
| VPIP | Percentage of hands in which player puts money into pot voluntarily. Posting blinds does not count. |
| PRF | Percentage of hands in which player raises preflop. It is recommended to keep PFR at no more than 10-20%. |
| Limp | Percentage of hands in which player entered the pot passively, by just calling one BB and not raising. |
| Fold to 3bet | Frequency of folding after facing a 3-bet. |
| Cbet | Percentage of hands in which player puts a continuation bet in. |
| Fold to Cbet | Frequency of folding to a continuation bet. |
| Steal | Percentage of hands in which player open-raises in late positions. |
To improve the quality of your own game, it is recommended to pay attention to the level of aggression on each street. Even professional poker players have problems with maintaining certain level of aggression on every street. Often, when a player gets a piece of the board, he prefers passive lines after villain’s cbet on the flop.
Low aggression level in poker leads to a situation where opponent is in full control. You can avoid it by keeping aggression frequency at least at 30% on every street.
In addition, passive poker players often fold to any aggression after a continuation bet, especially on the flop. This is a very common leak; opponents can easily win even with the weakest hands by forcing the player to fold.
It is worth considering that professional poker players do not go all the way in all situations just to make the call profitable. For example, if your opponent bets half pot, it is enough to win only 25% of times. In cases where the equity of your hand is 25%, it is worth defending with a call.
It is also recommended to keep an eye on your River Call Efficiency. This indicator helps to evaluate the effectiveness of calling on the river. If the value is less than one, it means that player loses more at showdown after calling. Clients with an RCE greater than 2 call the river too nitty, causing the calldown range to be too narrow.
PokerStars hand history mining
We have an excellent offer for that category of players who are interested in stats and other useful data on opponents. This will allow you to save time and learn almost everything about your opponents, as if you have played 1,000+ hands against them. At the same time, for them you will still be that “unknown” player. You can buy PS mining at the best price on the market from us. In order to receive a personal offer, write to our managers on Telegram or Skype.
