One of the best ways to improve your poker game and to keep it in tip top shape is to constantly do hand history reviews. It will ensure that your game does not stagnate, will help spot leaks, and will help you spot leaks in your opponent’s games. It is by far the best work you can do away from the table. All the top players study poker away from the game. That is how they continuously beat the games that they are playing.

So before you can start doing hand history reviews it is essential to buy a piece of software called Holdem Manager (before you mutter to yourself, here’s some promotional waffle about Holdem Manager, please let it be known I am in no way affiliated with this product. I wish I was because I love it!).

Holdem Manager is a poker tracking software which keeps track of every hand you play on line. It allows you to then analyse all those hands and replay them using a hand replayer and give statistical breakdowns of equity and pot odds in those hands. It allows you to study your opponents as well as your own play. It has revolutionised on line poker. It costs between $50-$80 depending on whether you buy the professional or beginner package, but it is well worth the money.

To begin your hand history review, you can filter on a reports tab in Holdem Manager and input all hands played after a certain time period, say over a 2 month period. You can then filter all your hands from biggest pots lost to won.

Then start a spreadsheet or just use a refill pad and note how you lost every big pot over 30 big blinds. I guarantee you even with limited knowledge of poker, once you go back over a hand in a replayer you will spot the blatant mistakes easily. Note what the mistake was and move on to the next big pot you lost and rinse and repeat.

Once you have done this you can start to group the mistakes. You will start to see a pattern emerging of where you are making the same mistakes over and over again. You can then implement changes into your game to eliminate those mistakes and hey presto you have now improved your game and increased your profits.

You should review your hand histories once a month. Look at all pots over 30 big blinds which you either won or lost to ensure that mistakes are not creeping back into your game and keep you from going into a downswing and your game fresh. Hand history review sessions are the cheapest and most effective way of poker training.