What tools or apps do you use to record hand histories when playing live?
I am a serious recreational grinder with a full time job playing 25-50 hours a month. I try and record all my big hands so I can discuss them with study partners. I am right now using the free version of apps, but would be willing to pay for something where the premium version is significantly better than other options.
However, I still have not found an efficient way to record hands. I use the free version of Poker Bankroll Tracker (PBT) to track sessions/profit and record the biggest hands. However, I don't find it particularly efficient for HHs, and for smaller hands that don't see river I often just type them out in discord.
The pro version of PBT is $34.99 per year (Canadian dollars).
I recently became aware of the new Fastroll Poker app for hand recording, which apparently just launched. In theory, I really like that it is ostensibly build with more of a database approach, with the goal of functioning for live poker like Poker Tracker 4 or Holdem Manager function for online poker. It would be really great to have something like this to analyze patterns over time, though admittedly it may take years to enough hands for that when playing live.
However, in practice I really dislike the HH recording in fastroll. I find it even clunkier than PBT. There seems to be a lot of unnecessary clicking throughout the process (clicking your position instead of just inputting your cards on the spot marked for your position on the little table, clicking next street once the action is over instead of it just auto going to the next street). You can also only copy 2 HH texts per day with the free version.
It is also significantly more expensive than PBT at $280/yr (launch special $140) (Canadian dollars).
Has anyone found any better options? Sadly it seems like right now the fastest option is typing out HH in discord, but that gets you a messy, unclear text.
12 Replies
Have you tried Pokerscope?
It's free to record and export hands, and we spent a lot of time making the UX easy to use.
I’ve never had the patience or sustained attention to record any more than hands of note, but AFAICT no app can beat just typing it out in standard notation, eg:
JhJc in LJ, 742sshQx2x
fccR60ffcfcfc
xxB15fcc
xxB50fc
xB33r50F
Use capital letters for hero’s action, lower case for opponents’.
Reads and stack sizes can be more taxing, so I only put it when it’s relevant/exceptional.
My notation: AcQd co 340 v covers Ah7d8hQs9d pre v UTG 10 h 30 v c flop v x h 30 v c. Turn x h 100 v c River v ai h? H c v shows 88. V skinny with glasses and dirty shirt
I just use notes with this format that I can understand in a glance:
1-2 50k H CO TT 600 SB c BB 3000 c (6600) 853r BB 2200 c (11000) 4r 6000 c (19000) Q 12000 c BB shows QcJc
Once you get used to your own shorthand you'd be surprised how quickly you can record a hand. The idea of tracking every hand in live poker is a fantasy that can be chiseled down into a reality of just a few significant hands per session IMO.
What you can do is track every hand you play in certain preflop spots over a number of sessions (e.g. SB, BB and BN VPIPs). By doing this you might find you're doing a few things you hadn't realised that others might exploit.
just notepad app on my phone with shorthand "me open 15 off 800eff KdQc drunk idiot calls MP tyler calls BTN 3ways QdTh3s..." sort of thing. Remembering stack sizes can be difficult multiway
if you like to take hand histories in note form, check out
- it automatically formats your hh and turns it into a replay
I have also struggled to find a good way to log hands. Apple notes takes too much focus and time, and all other poker hand loggers feels so clunky with too much friction.
However, recently I found the Rivver app which is free and soo good for logging. It makes logging during live play frictionless with just one hand using swiping gestures.
Highly recommend it!
Hey NausP, you don't have to pretend that you just found it. And if you are going to pretend, I wouldn't use the same SN in which you advertise yourself as the developer on Reddit. You might also want to mention to people that it saves your data online and seems to default to public visibility, though maybe John Demoman is just a demo, man.
Thanks a lot for this feedback Garick! John Demoman is just a default dummy profile indeed😀 But good point raising this!
Also, I see your concern in how I phrased it here. I am no expert in distribution of products, but do you have any recommendation for how to share new tools with the poker community?
First off, I'd make a post in Poker Software. Then if I were to bump old threads about the subject, I'd be very upfront. Something like "I realize this is an old thread, but I think I have a new answer. I've just developed a new app. It's free, and I'd like your feedback. To give a basic introductions it's..."
I realize this is an old thread, but I think I have a new answer. I've just developed a new app. It's free, and I'd like your feedback.
