Poker / Between sessions
You do not need an elaborate system to save something useful from a session. These two records separate the details you have from the question you want to investigate.
Download a blank copy and open it in a text editor or notes app. These are editable plain-text Markdown files. Use them after play; your answers stay with you.
Use it for: a particular decision you want to reconstruct and revisit. Record the situation, action, what you thought then, and your later interpretation separately.
Smallest useful version: positions, relevant stacks, action up to the decision, and one unanswered question. Mark unknown details instead of guessing.
Worked example: the button faces a raise to 7 BB after betting 2 BB in the fictional hand-review guide. Start by checking the extra 5 BB to call before debating the strategy.
Download the hand-review sheet# Poker hand review A private, editable record for study after play. A thinking aid, not a solved strategy recommendation. Keep other people's identifying information out of any copy you share. ## 1. Situation - Game and tournament context: - Stage or payout information relevant to the question: - Blinds and antes: - Positions and relevant starting stacks: - Your cards and the board: - Which details are exact, approximate, or unknown? ## 2. Action Write the action in order. For a raise, distinguish the total bet from the extra amount. - Preflop: - Flop: - Turn: - River: - Pot and amount to call at the selected decision: ## 3. The decision - The one choice being reviewed: - Available alternatives: - Observations known at the time: - Interpretations or assumptions, kept separate: ## 4. What you thought at the table Write this before the later review. Mark uncertain recollections. Do not rewrite it afterward. ## 5. What you think after reviewing - What supports or weakens each alternative? - Which assumptions matter most? - What is still unknown? - Any study tool, exact inputs, and limits of its relevance: - What changed in your thinking, and why? ## 6. Result, recorded separately What happened? What does it establish, and what does it not establish? ## 7. One next step - One question to investigate: - A small action for the next study session: - Later follow-up, without replacing the original record: For a shorter review, complete only the situation and the unanswered question. Guide: https://nolankido.com/poker/reviewing-a-hand/
Use it for: preserving the shape of a session without turning every hand into a project. Keep a few factual anchors, one moment worth reviewing, and a realistic next action.
Smallest useful version: what is recorded, which decision needs a closer look, and what information is missing. Keep results separate from the quality of the decisions.
Record: A fictional player saved two hand notes after a tournament. One includes exact raise sizes; the other has an uncertain starting stack.
Review question: Can the pot in the first hand be reconstructed from the written action?
Next step: Recalculate that pot before adding a strategic explanation. Leave the second stack marked unknown. Do not invent a result to complete the account.
# Poker session debrief A private record to complete after play. This is a thinking aid, not strategy advice. Estimates are welcome when labeled. Unknown is better than invented. ## 1. Factual anchors - Date or private session label: - Game and format: - Relevant tournament stage, blinds, and ante arrangement: - What was recorded directly (hand note, footage, voice memo): - What is recalled or uncertain: ## 2. One moment worth keeping - Hand or moment: - What happened, without a verdict: - What I thought at the time, as honestly recalled: - What I only learned afterward: ## 3. One question to review - The decision or calculation: - Missing information: - The smallest useful check: - What would change my interpretation: ## 4. Result, separate from the review - Result, if I choose to record it: - What the result does not tell me about the decision: ## 5. Next step - One action after rest or review: - Where the supporting record is stored privately: ## Before sharing any part - Remove names, travel details, account information, and other identifying material. - Confirm permission for any image or quotation. - Identify approximate or reconstructed details. - Do not publish this completed private worksheet automatically. Small version: record one decision, one unknown, and one next step.
These records do not validate a strategy or promise better results. They may be unnecessary for a small question that a conversation can resolve. Take a break rather than turning a frustrating session into more compulsory work.
Keep completed records private. Before sharing a hand, remove names and other identifying details, label recollections, and decide which details are actually appropriate to publish.