Training guide
Hand Review Checklist: Evaluate the Decision, Not the Result
A structured post-hand checklist for reconstructing information, comparing lines, and turning one hand into the next training goal.
The checklist maps to the action history and report data available in Let's poker.
Review from the decision point
A hand result contains information that was not available during earlier actions. Good review prevents that later knowledge from rewriting the original decision. Start at the first uncertain action, hide the later streets if possible, and reconstruct what you knew then.
The checklist
Context: room type, number of players, blind level, effective stack, position, and session goal. Preflop: prior actions, amount to call, players behind, chosen size, and intended response to a raise. Flop: pot size, board texture, range advantage assumptions, value targets, bluff targets, and chosen size. Turn: what the new card completed, which hands improved, and whether the flop plan still applies. River: which weaker hands can call, which stronger hands can fold, and whether a check reaches showdown profitably. Result: reveal only after writing the decision explanation.
Worked review
You hold K♠ Q♠ on the button. You raise, the big blind calls, and the flop is Q♥ 8♣ 4♦. After a check, you bet one-third pot and receive a call. The turn is 9♣.
A result-focused note says, “I lost, so the flop bet was wrong.” A decision-focused review asks which weaker queens, eights, pocket pairs, and draws called the flop; how the nine changes straight and club draws; and whether a turn bet still receives calls from worse hands. The final river cannot answer those questions by itself.
Convert review into training
Write one observation and one next action. Example: “I used two-thirds pot by habit on low-risk flops. For the next ten AI hands, I will state my value target before sizing.” This creates a behavior you can observe in the next report.
Common mistakes
- Starting with the opponent's revealed cards.
- Calling a decision good only because the pot was won.
- Reviewing every street at once instead of the first uncertain point.
- Writing vague labels such as “too aggressive” without a hand class or size.
- Collecting marked hands without scheduling the next drill.
Use Hand Replays and Reports to find the action history, then test related spots in Decision Lab.
Product Reference
The article structure mirrors the review process: evidence first, then a repeatable action and named failure modes.