11 Jan 12

Why Hand Evaluation Is So Important

Posting your hands on our dedicated hand evaluation forums can be one of the most valuable learning experiences there is. Find out more from two of our most popular hand judges.

Get Veriz to study your hands

What is the best way to improve as a poker player? That is a question that has vexed many of us in the poker community. Is it reading books? Watching training videos? Getting sweated live by a coach?

There is no right or wrong answer, it depends on your own learning style, but a great deal of poker players point to discussing hands with other players as being the most effective way to improve.

If you want proof of this, look no further than the PokerStrategy.com hand evaluation forums. In the English community forum, there are 30 dedicated hand evaluation forums for every game and stake you could imagine, with more than 400,000 posts and counting.

Judges like akrammon and Veriz, who are two of our most successful and prolific judges on the forums, who have helped hundreds of PokerStrategy.com members.

"For new players it is the easiest way to learn poker"

PokerStrategy.com: Why are the hand evaluation forums so valuable?

Veriz: They let you become  really secure during the game and in any hand, against any opponent. It’s not only that you learn from the hand evaluations/hand posts, but also you might find a great way to speed up your game process. It’s practically the same as you would be playing during the game but now you just could do the math and analyse the game.

There are just so many questions which we could get answered during analysis. Also don’t forget that we are always able to find someone like we are who are eager to learn and then maybe change contacts with him/her and do some sweat sessions and talk about the hands together.

For some it might even be good if they want to learn English or whatsoever language they are discussing in the forums.

akrammon: Well, if you decide that you want to improve your own game, some sort of hand analysis is a MUST. That is no question in my opinion. The hand analysis forums seemed like a good idea to me: I thought that professionals will answer my every question and decide whether I played a hand right or not, and thus I could improve.

PokerStrategy.com: Is it the single best way to learn poker?

Veriz For new players I would say it’s the easiest way to learn poker. Usually a lot of the new players just don’t know what to do on the tables and they are not secure in their play.

There will be so many things which the new players won't know to do. Of course we could learn that with time like watching videos, reading articles but why not just start to do it much easier way and post a hand and let more experienced players to evaluate them.

After a while you will realize the more hands you let people to analyze the more confident you will get in your play. During the game you will understand: “Oh, I know how to play the hand”, “Oh, good that I used the hand evaluations”, you will practically be more secure in your and the more hands you let to analyze or analyze yourself the more experienced you will get, every situation will be pretty easy for you.

And even if not then you can always post again the hand since there will be a lot of situations in poker, on different boards, different hands and of course different opponents & stacks.

akrammon: I believe it is the most important thing in studying poker. Seeing other people's thinking is incredibly useful. He doesn't have to be "better" than you - maybe you will be the one spotting a flaw in his game, but this one helps you as well, as you won't make that mistake yourself in future situation at the table.

"Don't be shy, people won't tell you off, they will help you"

akrammon says  don't be shy

PokerStrategy.com: Are a lot of players are quite nervous about exposing their play to others?
 
akrammon: The important thing is not to be shy. When I was starting playing poker it has happened to me that I had a hand that I played wrong but wasn't exactly sure how to play right, and I didn't want to post it thinking that I will be ashamed by the line I took.

Don't do that! People won't tell you off on the forums, they will help you! And after all, this isn't a beauty contest, we are here to learn playing poker, whatever it takes.

Also, if you visit the higher limit forums you will see that even professionals (not to mention me:D) take weird and sometimes stupid lines from time to time. There is nothing to be worried about, if you've made a mistake you have to find it and correct it. That's all there's to it.

PokerStrategy.com: What do you personally get from being a judge?

akrammon: I got much more than what I expected, I had a chance to discuss hands with other players who were on the same level as I was, often before the judge had a chance to look into the hand. It is so useful to see other players' thinking processes, and how they differ from yours, and how the judge's thinking differs from yours.

And I really enjoy helping this community: there are many people beginning playing poker and the first lessons they learn (and how they learn it) can determine whether they will take this seriously or not. But don't get the wrong idea, there are great promotions for voluntary hand judges: for example a status upgrade if certain requirements are met.

Also, there are other opportunities, like the one I've had last Monday, when I had a coaching with Collin Moshman, which was a huge opportunity, one that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

Veriz: I have done the Coaching and Hand Evaluation for a year. I really do enjoy doing Coachings/Hand Evaluations, they give you a great feeling when you see someone writes good feedback about your work and especially when someone is doing great during the progress. I’d like to thank all the feedbacks I have got so far and wish good luck to all my students! 

"Just because I evaluate hands, it doesn't mean my learning process has come to an end"

PokerStrategy.com: Do you still post your own hands for review?

akrammon: Of course I do! The forum is full of people who are playing the same limit as I do, their opinions are very very useful as well, and there are also more experienced members of this community who constantly comment on hands in the forums. Not to mention the professional judges, who are obviously much more experienced than I am.

Just because I evaluate hands, it doesn't mean that my learning process has come to an end, or top, or whatever. There are plenty of hands that I'm not sure about every week. Many of them I analyse on my own, but there are quite a few that I post on the forums and discuss with others.
    
I believe that discussing hands with others is not a question of poker knowledge or experience, it has to be done throughout a player's poker career.

Learn more about hand evaluations