How to review poker hands: example and checklist

What do you need to analyse a poker hand?

Record the game format, player count, blinds, antes, rake, positions, starting stacks, your cards and the board. Write each action and amount in order. Distinguish a raise to 8 BB from a raise by 8 BB. BB as a unit means one big blind.

Choose one decision rather than explaining every action at once. Hide the eventual result while you review. A hand revealed at showdown is one observation, not the whole range the opponent could have played this way. The Upswing hand-analysis guide also stresses recording the hand, isolating the difficult spot and checking different assumptions.

If sharing a hand for feedback, remove player names, chat and account identifiers. You need the actions and relevant context, not another player’s personal details.

Worked example: top pair facing a river bet

Invented study hand: six-player cash format, 100 BB starting stacks, blinds 0.5/1 BB, no ante and no rake. You are BTN with K♠ Q♠. The earlier actions describe the example; they are not recommendations for optimal play.

The folded SB’s 0.5 BB stays in the pot. Do not count BB’s posted blind twice. If the seat names are unfamiliar, start with poker positions and action order.

The pot odds guide explains the denominator. Here the river is already dealt, so each possible opponent hand either wins, loses or ties against yours. Our ranges below have no ties.

Change the range and the conclusion changes

Consider two deliberately small, fictional betting ranges. For this exercise only, each listed combination is equally likely after the given actions. This is not a read on real opponents or a solver result.

Your pair of queens loses to each listed set and beats A♠J♠, whose flush draw missed. The calculation is win share × 23.5 − 7. Calling loses chip value against range A and gains chip value against range B compared with folding. We have not evaluated a raise.

The difficult part is defending the range assumption. A possible combination is not automatically a frequent bet. Your K♠ excludes K♠J♠, but not A♠J♠. Note which hands you beat, which beat you, which cards block combinations and why those hands would reach the river this way. Revisit the board-texture exercises if the turn change is unclear.

This is a cash-format calculation without rake. Tournament prize value also depends on payouts and the other stacks. Do not transplant this answer into an MTT payout decision or a push/fold chart with different assumptions. See PokerStars Learn’s explanation of ICM.

A hand-review checklist you can reuse

Select and copy the checklist into your own notes, or use your browser’s Print command. This page has a print layout. The website does not submit or save anything from this checklist.

1. Format and players

Cash or tournament; number of players; blinds; ante; rake; payout context.

2. Seats and stacks

Your position; opponent positions; effective stack at the start.

3. Cards and actions

Hole cards and suits; board by street; exact action order and amounts.

4. One decision

Street; pot before the bet; bet size; call cost; available alternatives.

5. Facts and assumptions

Hands you beat; hands that beat you; blocked combinations; evidence for their frequencies.

6. Check and next exercise

Calculation; what changes under another assumption; one lesson; one similar spot to revisit.

Filled-in lesson from this example: “Pot 9.5 BB before the bet; call costs 7 BB; threshold 29.8%. I do not know how often the opponent bluffs this line. Next time I will list hands on both sides of the decision instead of treating one showdown as proof.”

Use one filled-in review in your next 20-minute poker study session. You can practise with this fictional hand and virtual chips; no deposit or real-money game is needed.