Are You Ambitious?

Most ambitious poker players will set aside each time to assess their game.

Should a Baccarat Player do the same?

There are various ways to do this, but a hand history review session is one of the most popular. It involves downloading the hands from the poker or baccarat player or tracking software and analyzing hand by hand how he/she played. By doing this, one can find leaks in their game and make adjustments that will result in earning more in the future.

Software

It’s very difficult to perform the hand by hand review with someone by memory alone. We are prone to misremembering things and the devil is in the detail. Therefore, it’s important the hands are extracted from the game site or tracking software used. I perform hand history review sessions through using a Cheats\Sheet on a computer.

Someone to review with A hand history without someone to discuss hands with is less effective than on your own. I know lots of people do it alone but two heads are better than one. Having another player to review it makes discourse and analysis more enlightening and rewarding. If you’re considering a hand history review, definitely have someone to do it with or pay for the service.

Clear mind Analyzing a hand is a mentally taxing activity. You are delving deep into hands and need your mental faculties to be sharp to assess things impartially. If your mind is elsewhere it’s better to skip a session. It won’t do you any good to try a hand history review if you’re mind is on other things. Moreover, you won’t remember what was discussed if you weren’t concentrating.

Pen and paper You need to be prepared to take diligent notes when analyzing hands. Imagine making some revelations that can improve your game dramatically, only to forget them and have no notes to refer back to? How annoying would that be? If you have terrible handwriting, type it up instead on a Word file. There’s no excuse for not taking notes when you have a hand history review. It will pay off when you look at them later. I recommend saving all your CheatSheets and study notes.

Good internet connection It’s crazy to think there are places in this day and age with weak internet connections, but shockingly there are. You need a strong internet connection to be able to have a proper hand history review. If your internet is weak, it will keep cutting our or lag. This will ender the session useless. It will also a be a waste of money if you’re paying for the session. Invest in a good internet connection and your game and bankroll can benefit from it.

Free of distractions This can’t be emphasized enough. You need to be free of distractions. This means no noise, music or people around when you’re doing a hand history review. Analyzing hands is a form of study and the same environment is needed. Make sure you have the room to yourself with the door closed so you can focus properly.

Calculator Using a CheatSheet will eliminate the nee for a calculator. It will total your bet amounts, number of players/banker and win/loses. Most poker decisions will require some form of calculating. You need to work out probabilities, outs and equity. Unless you’re a math whiz, you won’t be able to do this with fingers or in your head. You’ll need a calculator to do this for you so make sure you have one at hand for your session. You can buy pocket calculator very cheaply and most desktops have the feature too.

Open mind The whole point of going through hands is to find fault and make improvements. It’s impossible to do if you this if you are closed minded. Otherwise, you will look at hands and never see mistakes in yourself. An open mind allows you to take criticism and be open to making changes. Being criticized or activating change is not something people like but sometimes it’s essential to increase win-rates. Try to be as open minded as possible. You are learning a new concept so forget the old bad habits and focus on the task at hand.

Time A game of baccarat seem to go on forever, but over the pas 30 years of gambling, it only takes an hour to win or lose. Don't chase what you hope to be a win in the end. If you haven't meant half or close to half your goal by hand 26 quit and start over.

Variety of hands to review Most people pick the same group of hands or scenarios to focus on. For example, they make think they make money betting high proposition bets and they true. The question is can they make more if they approach the bets differently? The same can be said for player bets. Make sure you have a document your shoes, as you may find solutions to mistakes you have made. For myself, after 900 shoes and 43,000 hands I discovered a number of things I was doing wrong and discover things that do work. Like bet selection.