Do you review your hands after every session?

Lollo · Jul 19, 2026

Hello everyone!
Recently I've started taking poker more seriously. Right now I mainly play 888Poker freerolls because I want to improve my skills before making my first deposit.
I recently set up Hold'em Manager 3 to save my hand histories, and after each session I review my biggest hands. I've already noticed that some decisions felt correct during the game, but after reviewing them I realized there were better options.
I'm curious about your approach.
Do you review every big pot?
Do you only analyze the hands you lost?
Or do you also review winning hands to see whether you played them well or were just lucky?
I'd love to hear how you study your sessions. Maybe someone has a routine that helped them improve faster.
Good luck at the tables!

Dejana · Jul 19, 2026

Hi! 🙂

No, I don't have that need to do...

Lollo · Jul 19, 2026

Dejana said:
Hi! 🙂

No, I don't have that need to do...

Thanks for sharing your perspective! 🙂

I can understand that. Everyone has a different way of improving their game. Since I'm still a beginner, reviewing my hands helps me understand my mistakes and learn from them. Even if I don't review every hand, I try to look at the difficult decisions after each session.

Thanks again for your comment, and good luck at the tables!

theoxy · Jul 19, 2026

Hi ! No i never do that and also i do not analyze my hands . Good luck at the poker tables .

burro · Jul 19, 2026

Yes, I always check my hands, but not all of them. I usually choose the ones where I lost a big pot or was eliminated from a tournament.

Natiq 90 · Jul 19, 2026

Honestly — not after every session. And I think most players who say they do are either professionals or not being completely truthful.
After a good session I tend to close the laptop and enjoy the feeling. Which is probably a mistake.
After a bad session — that's when I naturally start replaying hands in my head. Not always productively though. There's a difference between genuine analysis and just torturing yourself over a bad beat at 2am.
What I've started doing instead is focusing on the hands that confused me — not the ones where I got unlucky, but the ones where I genuinely wasn't sure what the right decision was. Those are the hands worth revisiting.
Bad beats don't need reviewing. The math was right, the result was wrong, move on.
But that spot where you hesitated? Where something felt off but you couldn't explain why? That's where the real learning lives.
The problem is that most players — myself included — remember the dramatic hands and forget the subtle ones. And it's usually the subtle mistakes that cost you the most over time.
So no, I don't review every session. But I probably should.

ExMoroccan · Jul 19, 2026

Actually i used to do this after a really bad session or somewhat finale table if i was in one . but not really lately since it takes alot of time to do all the research

Stringy · Jul 19, 2026

hardly ever review, might start doing it

ramdon p358 · Jul 19, 2026

I don't do it, and it is undoubtedly a mistake I need to correct. Poker has changed a great deal these days; studying after every session is crucial, and it is something we must do if we want to improve our game.

wushibala · Jul 20, 2026

I've uploaded my hand histories to ChatGPT a couple of times, and it analyzed them, pointing out my main mistakes and weaknesses. However, if you really want to improve your game, it's worth using dedicated poker software for analysis and training. Even ChatGPT recommends using those tools because they provide a much more accurate analysis of your play

LUKADONCICMVP · Jul 20, 2026

no why would I waste my precious time???

Alex Houngan · Jul 20, 2026

Hold'em Manager 3 is a paid tool, and as far as I know it's only supported on 888poker for regular cash tables, not freerolls. So I'm curious, how are you actually using it to analyze your freeroll sessions? If you're serious about improving, it might be worth making a small deposit and playing regular games where you can fully benefit from HM3.

ratbat615 · Jul 20, 2026

Hello I use GTO wizard to study but using a program like Hold'em Manager 3 is the best way to study . I usually study spots that I was not feeling to good about.

Pabloro10321 · Jul 20, 2026

I try to analyze both the hands I win and the hands I lose. Losing hands tend to stand out more, but sometimes you win a hand despite playing poorly, and it's also worth considering. I don't analyze all the big jackpots, just the hands where I had doubts or felt that there were several game options. That habit has helped me a lot to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

Mr.Ram · Jul 20, 2026

Yes, it’s about working on your game. I pick out tough spots or hands where I’m unsure if I played correctly and analyze them. This kind of work builds experience, enabling you to make the right decisions in the future. Even if you lose the hand, knowing the play was +EV (profitable) boosts your confidence in your game.

margmilo44 · Jul 20, 2026

I prefer to play my own game and make decisions based on the information at the table rather than trying to imitate someone else's style. You can definitely learn from great players, but in the end you have to develop an approach that fits your own strengths and personality.

23maxim88 · Jul 20, 2026

Not really. Some hands definitely stick with me, at least for the rest of the evening—especially the ones where I think I played badly or made a mistake.

NSX_Amfe2nat · Jul 20, 2026

Hi, not after every session. Tbh one time in 25k hands

Emily Trott · Jul 20, 2026

WrongUsername · Jul 20, 2026

no i play poker for fun only

koalapanda · Jul 20, 2026

Lollo said:
Hello everyone!
Recently I've started taking poker more seriously. Right now I mainly play 888Poker freerolls because I want to improve my skills before making my first deposit.
I recently set up Hold'em Manager 3 to save my hand histories, and after each session I review my biggest hands. I've already noticed that some decisions felt correct during the game, but after reviewing them I realized there were better options.
I'm curious about your approach.
Do you review every big pot?
Do you only analyze the hands you lost?
Or do you also review winning hands to see whether you played them well or were just lucky?
I'd love to hear how you study your sessions. Maybe someone has a routine that helped them improve faster.
Good luck at the tables!

Great post @Lollo! Starting early with HM3 even on freerolls is a fantastic habit—it will build a solid foundation when you transition to real money games.
To answer your questions:
Definitely review BOTH winning and losing hands. One of the biggest traps is winning a pot and assuming you played it correctly. Sometimes we just get lucky after making a bad decision!
Tag hands in real-time. Instead of only reviewing the biggest pots, use HM3 to tag any hand where you felt confused or unsure during play.
Focus on the quality of your decisions rather than the short-term results. Good luck building your bankroll!

finaltable1 · Jul 20, 2026

I haven't laughed like that in a long time! Amazing joke, gentle trolling!

1) "Freeroll" 2) "hand review" 3)"HUD"

this is the first time in my life I've seen these three words combined in one sentence with an attempt to extract meaning.

YEs reviewing hands is a good thing to do, if you do it objectively then it's the best way to improve at poker.
But analyzing hands played in a freeroll is like using an excavator to searcch for gold in a huge pile of dirty laundry

Saruka0808 · Jul 20, 2026

If it's very good to learn from mistakes, but when a bad streak occurs you end up losing your mind and throwing everything to luck, the best thing in those situations is to take a good rest. I recommend that you deposit better at WPT, now they are on promotion and they give away a deposit ticket and money for the casino. Also this month there is a free tournament of 100,000, which I don't remember if it's for everyone or you have to complete a mission or a deposit.

lwccasz · Jul 20, 2026

I don't review every hand, but I tend to analyze only those that I had doubts about the best course of action. For this reason, I also use AI to help me with the analyses.

louuu19 · Jul 20, 2026

Welcome to the grind! Personally, I focus mostly on the hands where I lost a pot. After a session, I trace my choices chronologically from preflop all the way to the river. My main goal is to figure out if I actually made a wrong decision or if I just got unlucky (bad variance/). It’s easy to focus on the big losses, but separating bad luck from bad play is where the real improvement happens. Good luck!

Do you review your hands after every session?

Lollo

Rising Star

Dejana

Meat pounder 🥩

Lollo

Rising Star

theoxy

Legend

burro

Rock Star

Natiq 90

Enthusiast

ExMoroccan

Visionary

Stringy

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ramdon p358

Legend

wushibala

Rock Star

LUKADONCICMVP

Visionary

Alex Houngan

Rock Star

ratbat615

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Pabloro10321

Visionary

Mr.Ram

Rock Star

margmilo44

Rock Star

23maxim88

Rock Star

NSX_Amfe2nat

Visionary

Emily Trott

Legend

WrongUsername

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koalapanda

Rock Star

finaltable1

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Saruka0808

Enthusiast

lwccasz

Rock Star

louuu19

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