Analyzing a hand in the Lab
The full walkthrough: setup, hero cards, actions, villain range, verdict, then the next street.
Six steps, from the hand to the verdict. If the hand comes from a hand history or the Tracker, steps 1 to 3 fill themselves in: see Import a hand.
1. Set the context
“Options” menu (the three dots at the top right), then “Configuration”: format (cash, MTT, spin), number of players, effective stacks, ante and rake. The summary shows in the menu, for example “CASH · 6”. This context sets the pot size, and so the odds.
2. Enter the hero's cards
“New Analysis” opens a “Preflop” window: pick your hand, or “Random” to deal one.
3. Enter the actions
At the top, the timeline shows the current street: your cards or the board, and one column per position. Click “Add actions”, choose your position, then each player's action. Bets are entered in big blinds or as a percentage of the pot.
The “Setup Flop” card, to the right of the timeline, deals the flop; “Random” picks one, with a forced texture if you want. Streets already played stay on the left as small cards; ← and → move between them.
4. Assign the villain's range
The step that decides everything else. Click a villain action in the timeline (“BB: Call”): the 13×13 grid shows that action's range. Click or drag to add hands, set the width with the slider, start from a saved range (“Import Range”), weight hands, and postflop tick or untick categories. ⌘/Ctrl + Z undoes, ⌘/Ctrl + Y redoes.
Each tool in detail: The villain's range.
5. Read the verdict
Three tiles give the equity (“Hero”, “Villain”, “Tie”), then the verdict judges your decision:
| Situation | Possible verdicts |
|---|---|
| Facing a bet | “Good call”, “Marginal call”, “Bad call”, “Good fold”, “Tight fold”, “Missed call” |
| You bet or raise | “Strong value bet”, “Value bet”, “Profitable semi-bluff”, “Profitable bluff”, “Thin value”, “Thin bet”, “Bad bet” |
The EV badge puts a number on the decision in big blinds, and the text says why: equity needed, share of the range that folds, what you keep when the villain calls. Facing a preflop all-in, “Show profitable calls” lists the hands that make money calling.
A surprising verdict nearly always comes from the range you assigned: reread its composition before doubting the maths.
6. Move to the next street
“Setup Turn”, the actions, then remove from the range the hands that would not have continued. Equity and verdict recalculate. Then the river.
The field at the bottom right (“Add a note for turn…”) keeps one note per street, with formatting and a “Dictate” button.
The analysis is saved automatically in My analyses as soon as hand, range and equity exist.
On the Free plan
Equity reads without limit. One hand a day (in your time zone) gets the rest, up to the flop: actions, verdict and EV, bet sizes, configuration, replayer. On the following hands, or when you move to the turn, the reserved gesture opens the Grinder window, without losing what you entered. Details in The Lab.
Three common mistakes
Keeping the preflop range to the river. A villain who barrels three streets no longer holds their opening range: narrow it every street.
Looking only at equity. 45% against a polarized range and 45% against middling pairs do not call for the same play. The verdict accounts for what folds or calls.
Analyzing the hands you were sure about. The ones that teach you something are the ones where you hesitated.