Analyzing a hand for a beginner

#1 17th April 2011, 4:23 PM

What steps should I take when analyzing a hand? Should I start by running the hole cards through Pokerstove versus a range of opponents and then calculate the EV on the flop and subsequent streets or are there other parameters I should be looking at?

Please assume in your answer that I am a complete beginner at this sort of thing and not particularly mathematical. I wrote a program to calculate EV based on the formula in the pot odds article here and understand it but I am nowhere near being able to do the calculation in my head.

I would guess that a hand should have 50+% equity in Pokerstove and a positive EV to be a correct play from a purely statistical standpoint?

#2 17th April 2011, 4:36 PM

Having a positive EV makes it a correct play, you don't need +50% equity.

When you have say; 20% equity against your opponent's range.
You are on the turn and the pot is $95. He goes All-in for his last $5. You should call here as the pot odds are 20:1 (95+5)/5 and your equity is 5:1 or 20%.

#3 17th April 2011, 5:12 PM

For the equity I was more thinking of preflop, whether I should be in the hand at all (for example, some hands play better against a larger field than others) but I see your point also, thank you

#4 17th April 2011, 5:22 PM

Analyzing a hand can be real easy, real hard and everything in between. So there is no pat answer to your question. But, there are a number of things you can do to become more familiar with how to analyze your hands.

Poker stove is a great tool to use. You are using it, and should continue to. But poker stove can only tell you so much. You need to consider which opponents you are facing in the hand, what they have done and how they play (in this hand and overall), and whether or not your play made sense considering all active players position, their play so far, and the line they have taken in the hand so far. Among other things.

A good thing is to post hands in the appropriate section and see how others approach it. Mention that you are looking for help at learning hand analysis and members will help. You can post hands and discuss you thoughts on every street, and why you did what you did, and others will tell you their thoughts on your play. This can be very helpful. You can omit results in the hand, although in this case it may be ok to include the entire hand, as you are looking for info on how to approach analysis and not info on your particular play.

Hand analysis is like so many other aspects of poker. You have to do it, and do it, and do it some more to get better.

#5 17th April 2011, 5:55 PM

One of the things that has been hard for me with poker is that I am a "break it apart and analyze the bits" kind of thinker. I am able to keep in mind that there are other aspects to a situation, but I do best when I focus on one thing at a time when learning something.

I thought the mechanics, which have fewer variables, was the best place to start. I will post a couple of hands as you suggested and go from there.

#6 17th April 2011, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brave_n_Crazy

One of the things that has been hard for me with poker is that I am a "break it apart and analyze the bits" kind of thinker. I am able to keep in mind that there are other aspects to a situation, but I do best when I focus on one thing at a time when learning something.

I thought the mechanics, which have fewer variables, was the best place to start. I will post a couple of hands as you suggested and go from there.

Just concentrate on preflop and flop.

Before the flop, assign your opponent a range.

Then on the flop decide what hands in that range fold to a bet, what hands call a bet and what hands raise that bet. When in position, decide what hands bet and what hands check etc.

Then when you have that nailed, consider the river. (most valuable street)

Then work on the turn.

When you start out, the most flawed part of your analysis will be your own assumptions of villians range and what he does with different parts of his range, hence just work on preflop and flop. The turn and river will be a lot easier once you are making flop decisions based on accurate assumptions.

#7 17th April 2011, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brave_n_Crazy

I would guess that a hand should have 50+% equity in Pokerstove and a positive EV to be a correct play from a purely statistical standpoint?

50% equity is misleading.

You may have 50% equity against villians entire range but villian probably wont play for stacks with the whole of his range. So you might think "I have 50% eqiuty against his range" yet find yourself in a WA/WB situation whereby you have 50% equity until called then you have very little equity.

Hence work on your prefllop and flop analysis to begin with.

#8 17th April 2011, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brave_n_Crazy

For the equity I was more thinking of preflop, whether I should be in the hand at all (for example, some hands play better against a larger field than others) but I see your point also, thank you

preflop Equities

Spoiler

#9 17th April 2011, 11:56 PM

If you want the rest download a text file from http://www.pokerstove.com/analysis/preflopeq.php

#10 17th April 2011, 11:56 PM

please stop

#11 18th April 2011, 12:23 AM

Thank you Stu. I am definitely still in the preflop/flop stage although I am getting better at narrowing ranges. I wouldn't have expected to hear to work on the river next and then the turn so thanks especially for that.

As for equity, I see your point and hadn't considered it. At the risk of going off-track, would consideration of raising dead affect a bet? For example, if I have KK and I know that he would only call an all-in with AA or KK and he has already raised preflop indicating a strong hand (say JJ+), could/should this affect my decision to just call or to reraise all-in?

#12 18th April 2011, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brave_n_Crazy

As for equity, I see your point and hadn't considered it. At the risk of going off-track, would consideration of raising dead affect a bet? For example, if I have KK and I know that he would only call an all-in with AA or KK and he has already raised preflop indicating a strong hand (say JJ+), could/should this affect my decision to just call or to reraise all-in?

Your opponents 4bet and 5bet shove ranges do dictate how you play against them, however its almost impossible for villian to have a range so narrow that KK isnt ahead when the money goes in AND FOR YOU TO KNOW HIS RANGE IS THIS NARROW.

#13 18th April 2011, 12:38 AM

Thanks, I was trying to make the example super simple because I wasn't sure exactly how to ask and you've answered what I was getting at perfectly. I see this goes to putting villains on ranges and how important it is. I will start working on this more!

#14 18th April 2011, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brave_n_Crazy

Thanks, I was trying to make the example super simple because I wasn't sure exactly how to ask and you've answered what I was getting at perfectly. I see this goes to putting villains on ranges and how important it is. I will start working on this more!

Cool.

Work on your preflop and flop ranges because if your flop assumptions are wrong your river assumptions wont even be close.

#15 18th April 2011, 8:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stu_Ungar

Cool.

Work on your preflop and flop ranges because if your flop assumptions are wrong your river assumptions wont even be close.

^^^^ True.

And also be ready to re evaluate on every street. You may have a possible range, and due to action on the flop or later you will often need to re-adjust opponents range.

Just cause you think you are correct in your range assumption PF or post flop does not mean new information on later streets should not render your initial evaluation as no longer useful.

Similar Threads for: Analyzing a hand for a beginner > Texas Hold'em Poker
Thread	Replies	Last Post	Forum	Thread Starter
Advice for a beginner.	11	13th May 2012 6:13 PM	Learning Poker	bricht
My 1,000 post might help a Beginner	3	2nd March 2012 8:40 PM	Learning Poker	ALL IN CLUBS
Beginner Mistakes	36	24th January 2012 10:33 PM	Learning Poker	onetrick247
Suggested reading list for NLHE cash games beginner?	10	11th July 2011 8:45 PM	Learning Poker	john111_x
Tips for a beginner from a beginner.	24	9th April 2011 5:16 PM	Learning Poker	takethepain

Play Texas Hold'em Online Poker \| Analyzing a hand for a beginner
BetOnline Poker is a top online poker site accepting all US players with an INSTANT cash bonus of up to $900 FREE. It also has a casino and sports betting available.	PokerStars is one of the best places to play poker online. Use PokerStars marketing code CCHAT for a $600 bonus. Note: No US Players Accepted.