I discovered recording my online play when I taped myself taking The Thousand Hand Challenge so that I would have video proof that it works. I had no idea how much the mere fact of recording my play would improve my play.
Before I talk about the benefits, let me talk about the cost. To record on screen video for you to review after the session, your cost is zero, other than time spent downloading a program and the disk space required.
There are on-screen video recorders/editors available for download that have a free version which will do all you need it to do which is to record and play back. If you ever decide to produce your own live of video recordings about your poker, you may want to pay for the version that allows you to compile then into a Youtube friendly file without the watermark that the free version adds.
Filmora does not pay me to plug them, unfortunately, but I will say anyway that their Wondershare Filmora Screen program worked like a charm for me and so does Wondershare Filmora nine.
Besides making my poorly edited strategy videos, what is the benefit of recording poker sessions? Mainly two things:
For one, I don’t have to take notes while I play, but I have all the information about my play to refer to when I populate the data in the Keep Calm and Re-Buy Winrate Calculator available here for free download:
Action can happen pretty fast when you are following the default short stack strategy. You want to be confident when you either get felted or cash out to rebuy that you don’t have to try and remember the last hand. You can go back later to look at it if you wonder, ‘what was I thinking?’
In fact, it you would like to know for sure what your thoughts were, you can plug in your headset with mic and tell the video your thoughts as you play for playback later. I tried that and I found it distracting, but you may find it helpful. Poker, as in most other parts of life, is not a one-size-fits-all.
I also make videos for my Youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0w8Fvy6Jf-iZvL9YKHZY5A
One thing you may notice as you watch my videos, is that I have the video time counter visible. That is optional, you may find it not pleasing aesthetically. The reason that I use it that it reminds me of how long I have been playing in a session. That is important because part of my default strategy is to stop after an hour of play with no significant change in my stack size.
It also allows the viewer to know how long I have been playing in each session
If nothing else, recording your play will remind you to think during a hand. I tend to obsess over errors I make while playing, and if I was recording that hand, I will watch it over and over. I know if I make a fishy call, I will relive it. That helps with discipline.
If you are not yet familiar with the plan to go from beginner to winner in 1,000 hands, you can read all about it in my first book:
If you like a bargain, you can get this book in .pdf form for less than half price right here.
Keep calm and re-buy!
Frank