Another training site – not naming any names – did this, and they were lightly reprimanded by the community in general for showcasing detailed analysis of other players’ games with hole cards up.

They chose a Sunday 500 final table I believe, with a lot of good regs playing there, and the gist of the players’ arguments was that while registering for the tournament means they agreed to having their hole cards exposed and replayed on PokerStars for anyone to see, they never agreed to having two high-profile regulars dissecting their play at a major final table on a training site and going into detail on the thought processes they were probably using. In all honesty, I can see their point.

It’s fine to watch hands with hole cards on a replay, because you don’t know the thought processes behind why a player plays a certain way. It’s fine to analyse a player’s thought process in a training video, because you don’t know their hole cards until showdown, so everything you’re saying is speculative or theoretical. But picking apart a player’s performance at a final table like that in a training video is a level of analysis that could actively damage that player’s ROI by giving away so much information, especially if they are playing at higher stakes.

I believe the video series in question was discontinued after two parts. It seems a little harsh on the players in question to give away so much information about their game over and above what the Stars replay does, so my initial guess is that it’s unlikely you’ll see a review like this any time soon, unfortunately.

Perhaps I’m thinking of something different, then. I thought I remembered people kicking up a fuss about that series. In any case, I’m just one guy, so I’m sure if other pros feel fine about it then the series will get made. Sorry for just barging in.

Although I will point out that it’s not really hindering freely available information, since detailed analysis from high-level pros isn’t available for free virtually anywhere these days. If anything, I kind of see it as just ensuring that it’s not possible for high-stakes regs to effectively access a paid service that regularly gives them detailed information on their opponents. That just seems a little shady to me. I also don’t really see poker as a sport, but that’s just semantics. I don’t think darts, pool or snooker are sports either, so you guys who love those things can all start flaming me now. 🙂