How to Review Your Poker Hands Without a HUD

You don't need a live HUD to study

A HUD helps at the table, but it isn't where most improvement happens. Improvement comes from reviewing your own play after the session, and that works the same whether the numbers appeared live or not. On a site like CoinPoker, which doesn't write real-time hand histories, post-session review is the normal workflow.

Step 1: Get the hands in

Request your hands from CoinPoker and import them. The routes are in how to export your hand history from CoinPoker and how to import CoinPoker hands into PokerTracker 4. Do it right after your session while the hands are fresh.

Step 2: Start with a few numbers

Don't open every report. Check a short list and look for anything unusual:

• Preflop: VPIP, PFR and 3-bet%. Is the gap between VPIP and PFR bigger than you intended?
• Facing 3-bets: 4-bet% and how often you fold to 3-bets.
• Postflop: WTSD and W$SD and aggression factor.

Remember that these numbers are only as reliable as the sample behind them. How many hands you need before your stats are reliable is worth a read first.

Step 3: Filter, don't scroll

Reviewing every hand takes forever. Use your tracker's filters to pull out the ones that matter:

• Your biggest losing pots. The biggest mistakes usually sit in the biggest losses.
• Showdowns you lost. Did you call too light?
• Spots you don't feel sure about. Mark them while you play and review them after.
• Pots where you folded a strong hand. They hide as many leaks as the losses.

Step 4: Review with a question, not a result

For each hand, ask what you'd do differently with the same information, and whether you'd make the same choice again. A hand you lost can be a good play and a hand you won can be a mistake. Judging by the result teaches you to chase luck.

Step 5: Write a short note and pick one thing

Keep a simple log with the date, the spot and the lesson. Then choose one thing to work on next session, not five. You'll be able to measure it in the same stats next time.

Keep your sessions comparable

Compare a month with a month, not a Tuesday with a Friday, and compare like with like: 6-max and full ring play differently, so keep them separate.