Session Reviews: How to Review Your Hands

Every session contains lessons, but they disappear unless you look for them. A session review turns the hands you played into specific improvements. The key is to review the right hands, ask the right questions and — most importantly — judge decisions instead of results. Done regularly, reviewing is the most efficient study you can do, because it targets exactly the spots you face.

Key takeaways

• Mark hands during play so you don't have to remember them later.
• Review close decisions and big pots — winning hands too, not just losses.
• Go street by street: ranges, plan, sizing and alternatives.
• Judge each decision on what you knew at the time, not on the cards that came later.
• Finish each review with a short rule you can use next time.

During the session: mark hands

You won’t remember the details of a hand an hour later. While you play:

• Online: use the hand-marking feature or note the hand number.
• Live: jot down position, stacks, cards and action on your phone between hands.

Mark any hand where you weren’t sure, any big pot, and any hand where you felt emotional.

Which hands to review

1. Close decisions — where you hesitated. These are where you’re most likely to be wrong.
2. Big pots — won or lost. Most of your money moves here.
3. Winning hands too. Did you get maximum value? Could a different size have won more?
4. Recurring spots — situations you face every session.

Skip obvious hands: folding 7-2 preflop, getting coolered with a set against a bigger set at 100bb.

The review method

Work through each street and answer these questions in writing:

Step	Questions
Preflop	Was the hand in my range for this position and action? Was the size right?
Ranges	What was my opponent’s range at each point? What did mine look like to them?
Plan	On the flop, what was my plan for the turn and river? Did I have one?
Action & size	Was betting, checking, calling or raising best? What size fits my range?
Alternatives	What would have happened with the other options? Estimate the EV where you can.
Opponent	Did I use what I knew about this player?

Use the odds calculator to check equity against a range, and the pot odds tool for price questions.

A review in practice

No-Limit Hold'em · 6-max · 100bb

Hero (BB)KJ

▶ Replay

1. Preflop

   Pot 4bb

   • CO opens 2.5bb, Hero calls in the big blind — review: fine, KJs is a clear defend

2. Flop

   Pot 5.5bb

   K84

   • Hero checks, CO bets 2bb, Hero calls — review: top pair with a good kicker, calling keeps the CO's bluffs in; fine

3. Turn

   Pot 9.5bb

   Q

   • Hero checks, CO bets 7bb, Hero calls — review: the Q hits CO's range (KQ, AQ, QQ) and gives them straight draws; still a call

4. River

   Pot 23.5bb

   2

   • Hero checks, CO bets 25bb (an overbet), Hero calls and loses to K-Q
   • Review: an overbet from a solid regular here is polarised. Bluffs: missed draws (J-T, T-9 of spades). Value: AK, KQ, sets, two pair. KJ beats only the bluffs — how many are there?

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Beware results bias

The river card doesn’t change whether your turn call was good. A common trap is to review only the hands you lost and conclude that every losing line was wrong. Instead, ask:

“Given what I knew then, which option had the highest EV?”

If the answer is the line you took, the hand was fine — even if you lost a big pot. And if you won a big pot with a bad call, that’s a mistake worth fixing too.

Turn reviews into rules

Finish every review with a one-line rule you can use at the table:

• “Defend K-J suited vs cutoff opens, but fold it to solid regulars’ river overbets.”
• “C-bet small on K-high dry boards with my whole range in position.”
• “Don’t barrel turns that pair the caller’s low cards.”

Keep these rules in a single document and re-read it before sessions. Over time it becomes your personal strategy guide.

Get outside opinions

Your blind spots are, by definition, hard to see yourself. Post a hand in the community with the full action, stacks and your reasoning — and ask a specific question (“Is the river call good against this range?”). Explaining a hand clearly is itself great practice.

Quick check

You made a good call on the turn and lost when your opponent hit a 4-out gutshot on the river. How should you review the turn call?

It was a mistake because you lostJudge it on the information and odds at the time — the result doesn't change thatSkip the handNext time, raise all-in instead

Check answer

Decisions are good or bad based on EV at the time. A 4-out river is bad luck, not a bad turn call.

Quick check

Which hands are most worth reviewing?

Only the pots you lostClose decisions, big pots and recurring spots — winners includedEvery hand you folded preflopOnly all-ins

Check answer

Close and big decisions are where the most money is won or lost, and winning hands can hide missed value too.

Next up: the easiest way to increase your win rate — Game Selection.