Where it all started

In the early years of online poker, players couldn’t buy hand histories. Instead, poker players mostly gained knowledge of their opponents from the hands they played against them. Hand history software like PokerTracker helped, but with opponents often changing, it was difficult to get a large enough sample on most opponents that a poker player might face to gain any reliable information.

The first innovation came in the form of datamining, a process in which a player would observe numerous tables being played on the sites and limits they typically played at. All of the hands observed would be saved in their hand history files, giving them much more insight into their opponents’ tendencies and patterns. However, datamining is a time-intensive process, and there’s no guarantee that you’ll catch most of your opponents playing while you watch. Even worse, some poker rooms banned the practice, preventing players from gaining hand histories from games they weren’t playing in.

These methods left a lot of room for improvement, and it was only a matter of time before a better process became available. Today, we have a much more efficient way to scout our opponents: purchasing hand histories. Players can buy hand histories for almost any major poker room, instantly allowing them to find out what the competition has been up to.

Benefits to Buying Hand Histories

There are several reasons why buying poker hand histories is worthwhile for a serious poker player. However, most of them boil down to one simple truth: the player who has the most information at a poker table always has the advantage. Buying poker hand histories will allow you to know everything your opponents have done in recent days, giving you up to date data on their patterns, tendencies and quirks. It’ll also help you scout out tables, quickly identifying tables that feature plenty of fish, and steering you away from those where other sharks are already battling each other.

When you buy hand histories, you can choose only to get the hands that took place in your poker room, and at your stakes, meaning you’ll be getting an extremely focused look at what’s been going on in your games. With hand histories available for purchase at most major poker rooms, there’s nowhere your opponents will be able to hide.

Buy Hand Histories

On average, buying hand histories will allow you to get the vast majority of hands played by most of your opponents, if you keep your hand histories up to date. By purchasing new hand histories every few weeks, you’ll make sure that no new threats slip through the cracks, and that you’ll have the latest information on old opponents who may have made changes to their game. With the cost of hand histories at an all-time low, you’ll find that keeping your records fresh is a great investment – one that will pay for itself many times over.

If you don’t want to be left behind by the competition, it’s time to retake the information advantage by purchasing hand histories today.