Studying with poker software

Satiivas

Satiivas

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Hi all,

Recently I have been running extremely well in MTTs and I decided to invest the money I won into getting better at the game. So, after doing some research, I decided to purchase PokerTracker 4, GTO+ and Flopzilla.

Could somebody please walk me through the process of how can I use the combination of these 3 programs to the fullest to study my game? I play mostly microstakes MTTs, so the focus would be on that.

Also, how exactly does reviewing your own hands work? Let's say I am rewatching my hands in PokerTracker and I find a hand I am not sure I played correctly. How do I find out myself if I made a good/bad play? Or to ask differently: if a poker streamer marks a hand he's unsure about to "review", what is he doing with it later? Is he always going to go through the hand with a coach?

Thanks in advance!
 
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fundiver199

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The most simple way of reviewing a hand is to simply look at it again, when you are away from the table, not emotionally involved and not under any kind of time pressure. And then honestly ask yourself, was this a good play, or could/should I have done something different. It can be a good idea to wait a week or two to be even more emotionally detached from the result. The next step is posting the hand history in a forum like CC or sharing it with a study group or a coach to get other peoples opinion.

Analysing with software means importing the hand to some program, which can then calculate the supposedly game theory optimal way to play the hand or calculate your equity versus an etimated range. I dont know GTO+, but I would assume, its mostly for postflop situations, where it can tell you things like, which range to C-bet and for what size, if you want to play a GTO strategy.

Flopzilla is a range visualizer, which is a much older and simpler tool. It can be used to calculate your equity against an estimated range to see, if for instance you should have called a turn jam. This will still depend on, what range you assign your opponent, so the answer is not as objective as that delivered by GTO software. The program can also tell you, how your opponents range connect with different board textures, which can be used to determine, if bluffing is profitable. For me Flopzilla is a program, you spend a few days messing around with, and then you probably dont need it any more. I typically use the free Equilab these days, even though I have Flopzilla.

One important piece of software, which is lacking from your list, is ICMizer. This is the main tool for analysing tournament preflop push/fold spots, which are very common in tournaments. I know, its expensive, because the license has to be renewed every year. But if you are a serious tournament player, its definitely worth spending 99$ to have it for a year. If you use it regularly during that year, you will become so much better at push/fold spots, that its maybe fine to let the license expire.
 
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scubed

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I decided to purchase PokerTracker 4, GTO+ and Flopzilla.
Hook up Flopzilla and GTO+ so that you can set up your hand ranges on hands that you've got queries about and play against the GTO solution. As you play GTO+ then Flopzilla will update in real-time to show you the statistical data. Google how to hook the 2 softwares up and enjoy!
 
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scubed

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I was thinking about a website where I saw some examples of how to study with Flopzilla and GTO+. Check out this dude's website and hopefully it can give you some ideas of how to use the tools to improve your game https://www.lukich.io/

... I do NOT know this guy and have no idea if his work is correct. I simply watched some of his work and it helped me learn how to do the tool on my own.
 
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