During a break at a live stop, in line for a coffee or a bathroom, you’ll hear lots of poker players retelling their bad beats or working out how they could have played their hand better.
“So I raise with pocket queens and the guy re-raises me. He’s pretty tight, so I call. Flop is ace something something. He bets again and I call. He bets on the turn again, I call. On the river, he goes all in. Have to fold right?”
Cool story, Hansel. However good-faith the retelling of this hand history (HH) is, the quality of this HH is absolutely brutal.
In this article, I’ll provide you with a universal method for sharing hand histories that saves everybody time and that will make you come off more competent next time you ask for their thoughts.
Everything You Need to Include in Pro-Level Poker Hand Histories
Aside from the obvious components of a poker hand history such as your hand and the line you took, there are several tidbits you want to include to make your hand history pro-level. These include things like:
- Positions: It’s imperative that you include positions of all relevant players. The short-hand for these are UTG or EP for first position, MP or LJ for middle position (usually 4 off the Button), HJ (2 from the Button), CO (1 from the Button), BTN for the Button, SB for Small Blind and BB for the Big Blind. If you were the opener, be clear about where you opened from etc. Make sure to state which position your opponents are in. For simplicity, you can just call your opponent the position they are in. For example, “BTN goes all in.”
- Stack Sizes in Big Blinds: For the relevant players in the hand, make sure to clarify what the effective stacks are in big blinds (noting if there is a stack asymmetry can be relevant too). It’s common in live settings for players to discuss hands using the big blind level and the chip counts. However, the best study practice is to discuss hand histories in big blinds. Instead of saying, “They raised from EP to 2400 at the 1200 level,” you can say, “They opened to 2bbs”. Sometimes, the chip counts and level are pertinent but most often, strategic discussion is best served talking in big blinds. You’ll want to restate stack sizes on each street as the pot size increases and stacks shrink.
- Detail the Action & Runout: If you open and your opponent re-raised, make sure to include what bet size they re-raised to. If you’re doing this in big blinds, it becomes a lot easier to keep track of the pot street by street. Also when recounting the runout, make sure to include the suits in your hand and on the board. Having relevant suits in your hand or in the runout can be important when gauging your play. Last, always say the high cards first. It’s Ace-King not King-Ace. It’s 54 suited, not 45 suited. The flop was A52 rainbow or “r”, not 5A2r.
- Previous History, Meta, Reads: Since the players you are discussing hands with were usually absent when your hand took place, it’s important to include any additional information like history with the villain, any reads you may have had, or anything that you thought was relevant at the time that they wouldn’t know without your disclosure. For example, some people will raise “any two” during the last hand before break if it seems like the players are antsy to stand up and leave. If you end up playing a hand right before break against a player who has this tactic in their arsenal, you’ll want to include that in your HH.
- Your Thoughts: When looking for advice or to improve, explaining your thought process will help others help you. You might have come to the right answer for the wrong reasons. To do hand history analysis well, you don’t just want to cover what happened but also what you were thinking as the action unfolded.
Poker Hand Histories: Syntax Matters!
To save you and your listeners time, you need to nail your poker hand history syntax. At first, it can feel mechanical trying to do it like professionals, but after a little practice it becomes very easy and will feel a lot smoother as you go forward.
Here’s a summary of the best syntax to use for poker hand histories:
- Effective Stacks. “We’re playing 50bbs effective.”
- Preflop Action including Position, your Combo and Bet Sizes. “CO opens to 2bb. From the BTN, I re-raise (or 3bet) to 6.5bb with KdQc. Folds back to the CO who calls.”
- Summarize Pot Size and Effective Stacks. “So now the pot with the blinds and antes is 15.5bb and have 43.5bbs behind.”
- The Flop with Suits and Detailed Action, including your Thoughts. “The flop is Tc6c4d. The CO checks. The board seemed dry enough to range bet and having the Qc is nice so I bet 4bb (Just over 25% pot). CO folds.
Were the CO to call in this example, you’d want to summarize the pot size on the turn and the remaining stacks again, and so on and so forth.
Being able to detail a poker hand this way makes it easier for everyone. You can avoid a lot of unnecessary questions by providing all the details in a clear manner from the outset of your HH. Not only that, but if you’re sharing the hand with someone whose game you respect, they will give you a little more credit for being serious about the game. It’s getting things like this right that add up in a poker player’s career. The little things count.
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