Is there any better feeling in tournament poker than a deep run with big money on the line?
If you’ve ever battled deep into a live event, you know the feeling – the excitement, the nerves, the sweat. Along the way, especially in a multi-day tournament, the hands start to blur together. Even the notable ones become fuzzy around the edges and details are lost. Was I in the cutoff when I three-bet the ace-king? Or was it the lojack? And how many big blinds did the villain have again?
For professional players, the details matter – reviewing hands from the most crucial stages of a tournament is an essential part of staying sharp on the felt.
For recreational players, the memories matter. Those deep runs don’t come around all that often and reliving the highs and lows of the ride is part of the fun – and the heartbreak. Plus, when your family or your friends back home ask about the experience they want to hear about the big hands, the ones that got your heart rate going.
When you’re in the heat of the moment, with emotions running high and serious cash up for grabs, the details can fade away.
That's where LiveHands comes in.
Log live poker hands, in seconds
The scenario described above is precisely what Tom Sullivan, a web developer from Minnesota, endured in the wake of his WSOP Main Event run back in 2022.
After reaching Day 5, Sullivan did what 99.99% of players in the Main do: he busted the tournament. And when he tried to remember the details of key hands from that final day, he drew a blank.
That’s why he created LiveHands – a quick-to-use, intuitive hand recording app that makes it easy to make note of key hands in a live poker environment.
“It’s a hand logging app that allows you to log your live tournament hands at the table in between deals, in seconds,” Sullivan explains.
From there, you have the ability to export the hands in PokerStars formatted text files into whatever analysis software you use – like PokerTracker, Holdem Manager, and Hand2Note.
“My vision was to create a product that was a connector, that allowed you to get data at the table quickly and then export it to the places you’re already living," he goes on. "Whether it’s analysis tools for your study workflow or for content to post to social media."
Sullivan sees coaching and content creation as the two primary uses for the app.
“Obviously, study is the first thing. If you’re working with a coach, it’s a great way to get a lot more value out of your sessions by starting with real data," Sullivan reasons. “For content creators, you can post hand histories that your audience can engage with in a whole different way. With every hand you log, you can create a social share card – a ready-made visual you can share to social media.”
Potential media darling?
Sullivan has ideas for other use cases, too. If LiveHands catches on within the poker community, there's one demographic that could benefit tremendously: the media.
For live poker reporters, an app that allows you to log a hand in under 60 seconds would be an invaluable tool.
"It's not a big leap to say that somebody [from the media] could be watching a live hand and log it essentially as it's happening," he reasons. "And then it's just one tap to share to social media.
"I think there's a lot of possibility there."
Tom Sullivan walked away from a deep run in the WSOP Main Event with plenty of memories – but the details were hazy. There's another added benefit to community-wide adoption of a hand recording app: the standardization of hand histories.
If you've ever had to parse through the confusing array of shorthand and acronyms that often make up a hand history, you'll recognize the need for a uniform way of recounting pots played.
Is LiveHands the answer to that particular problem? Let's keep our fingers crossed.
If you're interested in trying out the LiveHands app, you'll find it in the Google Play Store and App Store.
