How can hand histories increase your winrate? By giving information about your opponents that you simply can’t get anywhere else.

When you first start playing poker, generally the only things you’ll be worried about are the cards in your hand and the cards on the board. Then, as you improve, you begin to realize that it’s also important to try to get some idea of what your opponents are holding, too.

There are many ways to gain information about your opponents’ hand. You can watch the way they bet, for instance, or – especially in live play – look for tells that tip you off to the strength of their holdings.

But none of these things can replace the experience of actually seeing your opponents play hands: the more hands, the better. It’s the only way to learn their betting patterns and tendencies, along with any little quirks in their play that you can take advantage of later.

Of course, when you’re playing online, you’ll never get the chance to personally play thousands of hands against every possible opponent you might meet. You can play for months or years, tracking every hand you play, and still only get a fraction of the information available on your opponents.

That’s where hand histories come into play. By purchasing large numbers of hand histories, you’ll instantly get almost limitless information on your opponents. This informational advantage is how hand histories can increase your winrate; you’ll be able to zero in on your opponents’ tendencies and take advantage of each and every flaw in their play.