Why don't you post more HH in the HA thread?

To build off of this previous thread, I am creating a poll to help us start to understand why people don't post as many hand histories for analysis. I've come up with options on my own, so if I miss any (which I'm sure I will), maybe a mod will help to add any appropriate extra choices in.

I did place a generic response of "Other", as we can't think of everything. But if you select other, please place a reply explaining what that "other" reason is. The whole point of this poll is to help the membership see where we are doing good or lacking as a group/poker forum in hand analysis and see how we can grow and help all members, new and old.

Remember, the poll is anonymous and multiple selections can be made. Also remember that I just made up the choices on the fly, so if more are needed or existing ones (that are unselected) need to be changed, I'm sure we can get a mod to help.

I guess I should, but I've played so many hands that nothing really seems special to me anymore. As far as responding to them, I've kinda cut back on that as well. I hate giving bad advice and it's very rare that a single posted hand will provide enough information to give good advice.

I choose other. I haven't played heads up in weeks!

Other - i don't gain anything from it personally - after 18 months posting on site I know what people are going to say to a particular hand (and who's going to say it).

...where's the "I've barely played poker at all for the last few weeks" option?

Actually the reason I don't post HH's is because it gives info out on how I play. And any info given out to you sharks lessens my chances of taking your chippies.

We can have a mod add it. Oh, wait, you're a mod...wanna add it? fine with me if you think it's valid.

I think we all know what is you way to play such hands.... what ? .... Who says "badly... very badly" ?

Personnaly, there is two reasons why I don't post many there:
1) I barely play heads up (should I say never ? )
2) Easy to see : it takes me about 3 hours to write one "correct" sentence in English.
So it is difficult for me to post and post and post again. I post when I'm really doubtful about my game play and need some help.

I'm seeing a recurring theme here, but don't understand it. You don't have to play heads up to post hand histories in the hand analysis section. You can post any hand history you like and ask for input, feedback, suggestions, or whatever.

Those two should have picked "Dont understand the abbreviations" one. Me thinks they mistook HH for HU? (hand history, heads up).

Oh and I voted for "I get no replies so why bother". I still do post sometimes and try to pick ones that are out of the ordinary but do not get much in the way of replies. Also it is very, very hard to give all the details needed to get a good analysis. In one situtation is it good to fold certain cards and better to raise in another. For this reason the HA has limited value.

You're totally right. I confused both

LOL...oops. Sort of ironic I think.

It is too time consuming to try to get enough information in - but the effort that some make to help out is appreciated.

There are some really good players in here - trying to think of a better way to learn some of their skills other than posting HH.

I replied other.

I`m not really that interested in any single hand. I`ve got Poker Tracker and an odds calculator, so I can (and quite often do) go back myself and study the pivotal hands of a game or tourney to see whether I made the right decisions (and to learn from my mistakes, if appropriate).

I sometimes make comments on other people`s posted hands, if I feel like I can add something to the discussion, and I do find these discussions interesting.

However, the only way I would it worthwhile to post my own HH would be if I posted a whole session or tourney, for more general comments on my overall game rather than the tactics of any individual hand. I know one or two of the other members have expressed the same thought.

Realistically, though, that would create a huge document almost as boring to read as a telephone directory. Couldn`t really expect anyone to enjoy wading through that.

I think someone needs a lesson here. With having people over, my brakes being done, and just gotten home from store I didn't see you wiping off the table too fast.
A little smackdown talk after one hand does not make you a champ.

Methinks we need a best two out of three Heads Up matches to settle this. I'll have funds availiable middle of the week. Low stakes since this will be for bragging rights. And maybe a side bet to be decided before. Nothing much, maybe posting a picture here with the loser showing how great the winning player is.

Are you up for this Nico?

I try to post in the HH section as much as possible, I find it an immense help to my game. Some threads interest me more than others however, and posting in them all would require too much time and energy. As such if i find a hand interesting ill post, if i dont see anything wrong, or a basic basic decision that has been answered already i dont see much poing posting.

Sounds like someone will go in front of a big disillusion.... Just asking myself who it will be
Anyway no probs for me. Just have to find some "giving moneys" fishies in order to have the funds for... How long could it take me ? Let say one year or two
No ?... That doesn't work.... OK I definitely have to try
Let you choose the site as you are the "offended part"

I get the idea that many - most? - people play tournaments more than cash games, and in a tournament there are so many factors that weigh in when trying to reach a decision that a hand history is extremely incomplete.

Cash game hands, however, those you can learn a lot from. There's not always a "correct" and "incorrect" way to play any single hand, but by posting them we can discuss different ways of reasoning. And it's not "how to play" that's interesting, because how to play any given hand is only useful if we're in that exact situation again. And we won't be. Or, in the extremely unlikely, borderline once-in-the-universe's-lifetime-rare freak-accident that we are, we probably won't remember what it was that Dorkus Malorkus or tenbob said we should do.

So why post in the HA-forum? Because we get to what's interesting: The reasoning! Now THAT'S useful, since the reasoning can be applied to other hands other than one that we've already played and mucked. We can discuss why some situations are better than others to checkraise, or why checking behind a scary board may not be a totally clever decision (hi, Chris!), but it's not the hand itself that's interesting. It's the situation, in general terms, that learning comes from. Identifying the core of the situation, like "he will call more hands than he will bet with" or "you can bet, but if you're raised you have to fold because...", and then being able to differentiate a future situation into its basic parts and think "this player would call more hands than he'll bet with... I should bet!"

Then you get it wrong, and you post another hand, and someone points out where you went wrong, and you try it again and... And so on. We can't be prepared for every hand that we're ever going to play, but we can learn the situations. We originally, in the beginning of our poker career, start with the basic situations, "good hand" and "bad hand". Then we fine-tune it to "monster hand", "decent hand", "poor hand," "crap hand," or so. Then we keep fine-tuning, and keep practising differentiation, it until we reach a level like "requires-high-implied-odds-but-can-still-be-used-to-steal-blinds-from-tight-players hand" and other variations on finely tuned concepts.

This is why I really, really, really don't like seeing "raise" or "fold, you're beaten" as the only response to a post because IT'S NOT LIKE I'M PLAYING THE HAND RIGHT NOW AND AM LOOKING FOR HELP TO FINISH IT! Include reasoning. Why should I raise? Why should I fold? Knowing that you think I should raise doesn't help me differentiate a future hand.

Grawr.

While ranting, let me add in this:

1. Threads named "what should I do?" or "what now?" or any variant on that theme do not attract my eyes. Perhaps you don't have to add in the entire handhistory in the title of the post, but at least put in some idea of what you're playing.

2. Explain what decision you're curious about. Explain why. Just posting a hand history (and include results) of a tournament hand that you lost and ask if you could have played it differently is not going to get you anything at all.

Anyway.


Fredrik

PS.
I realize full well that one of JD's options was that some people may be too intimidated to post in the HA-forum. And then here I come, ranting and raving, and... Well, I'm a nice guy. Really, I am.

No, really.

Sorry to pick on one part of what is an excellent post FP. But I have to strongly disagree as a somewhat learning and slowly become successful tournament player. Whilst cash game hands are bread and butter stuff, for a tournament player making a correct decision (too quickly online in most cases) in the late stages of a tournament can be HUGE sections of your bankroll, and these decisions can not be made lightly.

Things like folding when your likely to be ahead when playing a tourney hand, and knowing it, and also knowing that FOLDING is correct in many cases make some of these decisions extremly delicate and are what can make a winning player.

Whilst the body of that post is great, dont be too quick to dismiss good especially late stage MTT hands where in a lot of cases 100's of times the buy-in and HOURS of time has been invested.

End of rant

I don't usually post because if there's a hand that I lose, once it's over, I can generally figure out why and what I did wrong. OR it's a horrendous bad-beat, in which case it's a wash.

However, this has got me to thinking, of all the times I have laid down a hand, and not known if it was the right thing to do...I suppose I could remember to snag a HH in those situations and post it.

I also realize that I don't reply to a lot of HH's. I think this is mostly due to the fact that while I understand basic odd theories, etc., there is no way I would be able to pontificate those odds (percentages) in a response. So I feel that my response may be lacking in substance because of it?

I disagree, it's absolutely no effort at all to copy and paste a hand history in, which instantly gives all the information, bar reads on any players, that you need to give. Which bit of copy and paste are you finding difficult?

I didn't mean to dismiss tournament hands, sorry if it came out that way. I meant that because of the many more variables involved in a tournament hand, just the hand-history is rarely enough, whereas for a cash-game a hand can mostly be seen as a stand-alone event. The work involved for creating a good discussion on a tournament situation is a lot bigger than what it may be for a cash game hand, and that might be a turn-off for some people posting, or they post a tournament hand and get no responses and wonder why.

Difficult is not the right word. Will reply in PM - aprreciate what you are saying but....

I post HH's more for opinions (when I can get them) than for strategy help. Many times the opinions I get on 1 HH are split, which tells me that the general answer is "It depends." But there are a few times that I can gain from a majority opinion, like once a while back I found out that I used to overvalue KQ offsuit. That one helped a lot.