Hand HQ Overview

Before I get into this review I need to mention the current views on data-mining in the online poker community. Online poker players will find data-mining both legal and illegal, depending on the online poker site you currently play at and their terms and conditions.

Looking into the future it seems that more and more poker players are deciding data-mining is an unethical practice, and online poker sites have taken many steps to eradicate the practice. How much longer data-mining services will be offered is an open question.

All that said, with many players still using data-mining services, I feel I have to play devil’s advocate and explain the benefits of data-mining.

Ok, now on to the review! Hand HQ is a data-mining site that sells players large databases of hand histories from a particular site for the format and stakes they play –which will give players a solid database to use in an effort to find fishy opponents and avoid the tougher players.

Hand HQ sells hand histories for the following sites:

• B2B Entraction
• OnGame
• Full Tilt Poker
• Cereus Poker Network (UB and Absolute Poker)
• PokerStars
• Party Poker
• iPoker

Hand HQ Features

Hand HQ isn’t selling a service or a product for a player to tinker with; Hand HQ is actually selling a finished product for players to use, so there are very few features. You pay for a certain number of hand histories, and Hand HQ simply sends you those hand histories.

• Hand Histories are broken up into numerous categories to pinpoint the exact game/site/stakes you compete in
• Hand Histories can be imported to your own tracking software
• Databases allow you to find the bad players and avoid the good players

Hand HQ Drawbacks

The main drawback of hand HQ is that data-mining is on a slippery slope and could suddenly become illegal on even more online poker sites than it already is. Additionally, sites have confiscated funds, or given harsh penalties to players who breach their terms and conditions in respect to data-mining. Because of this you should read through your online poker site’s T&C’s to make sure data-mining is not expressly prohibited.

Hand HQ Price Tag

Hand HQ has numerous options for players to choose from, starting with 10,000 hands for $.99. However, to amass a serious database a player will have to pay much more. The pricing is based on the following criteria: The site you play at, game type, stakes, # players, and # of hands.

In order to have a usable database, players will need a minimum of hundreds of thousands of hands in their database –considering the chances of running into the same players is fairly slim—for 1,000,000 NLHE hands at the $400 level will cost you $96.

You can check out the Hand HQ website to see how much you will pay under different circumstances –# hands, site, stakes, etc.

Hand HQ Final Verdict

Many people take the view that if other people are doing I should hop on that train. However, when it comes to data-mining the jury is still out on whether it will become illegal, or if the repercussion for being caught data-mining on a site that disallows it is worth it. Because of this I would caution players to be very careful, and think through their decision, before they purchase data-mined hands.

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