Short answer
Import your hand histories into a poker tracker, separate the sample by format, use your stats to choose one or two priority leaks, review hands from those spots street by street, then check in later periods whether the adjustment holds.
What is a poker hand history?
A hand history is the text record a poker room creates for each hand. It usually includes the room, hand ID and date, game type and blinds, seats and stack sizes, your cards, preflop/flop/turn/river actions, the board and the result.
Rooms often save histories on your computer through their client. The folder and settings vary, so check the room's configuration or help center.
A five-step review process
- Build a sample and separate it by format. MTT, cash and Spins have different dynamics. Mixing them can distort your stats and conclusions.
- Start with stats, not individual hands. Stats summarize thousands of decisions. Use them to find deviations from a format-specific reference before opening hands one by one.
- Choose one or two priority leaks. Focus on deviations with stronger evidence, worsening trends or recurrence across periods. Trying to fix ten things at once makes progress hard to measure.
- Review hands from the spot street by street. Filter for hands where the leak appears and replay them. Focus on the decision, not whether you won the pot.
- Practice, then measure. Train the spot and revisit your stats in a later period to see whether the change holds.
Common hand-review mistakes
- Reviewing only big pots. Coolers and all-ins stand out, but leaks often occur in smaller, frequent spots.
- Judging by the result. A winning hand can contain a poor decision, and a losing hand can be played correctly.
- Drawing conclusions from a small sample. A percentage based on few opportunities can move sharply after a few more hands.
- Changing too many things at once. You will not know which adjustment helped.
How PokerDataOS handles imports
| Area | Current support |
|---|---|
| Rooms and formats | Automatic room and format detection for supported No Limit Hold'em histories. Room coverage expands over time. |
| Files | One or more .txt files, a ZIP archive or a folder. |
| Validation | Detects format, validates and normalizes hands, removes duplicates, and reports new, duplicate and rejected hands. |
| Privacy | Hands are processed in your browser. Opponent names, hand text and chat are not stored; only cards opponents revealed at showdown are retained. |
After importing, stats and Leak Detector prioritize deviations by evidence, trend and recurrence. Hand Replayer lets you review hands street by street, and Trainer helps you practice preflop spots. Other games such as Omaha are not currently imported.