“How/where can I download my hand history?” is a frequent question from players new to Unibet poker. When we explain that you can’t, we’re met with a cocktail of emotions consisting of an equal blend of disbelief, shock, and wonder.
Furthermore, when we speak to our higher-volume players at Unibet Open events or through the social channels, we realize it is a much sought-after feature, and we do understand the need to improve your game more easily in today’s poker environment. We even acknowledge that we, due to the lack of hand history download, are actively pushing volume to other sites, for players that are really keen on getting better.
So why don’t we allow players to download their own hand histories? Before we dive into the details, it’s important to understand the whole site ethos and the strategy behind the original product launch in 2014. Here a quote from the launch 10 years ago:
“The environment in the online poker industry has changed over the years and we have come to the insight that being part of a poker network is not sustainable for Unibet in the long term. This project has given us the possibility to start from a blank piece of paper and define everything we believe is important for a fun poker experience. In a way, our goal is to bring the fun back to poker by creating software with a clear focus on the casual player.”
Casual players first has been prioritized and considered for everything. Bring the girls to the club, and the boys will follow all on their own.
The graphics were originally far from ideal for multi-tabling regulars, but the client looked nice and inviting to new players, and that mattered more. Auto top-up, customizable bet buttons, downloadable hand history etc. were never on the table, and third-party tools were obviously banned. Furthermore, you could create a new alias every single day, while having multiple active ones. Online poker became more like live poker, and the industry has since moved in a similar direction.
The initial strategy was – in my opinion – a bit extreme, and we’ve since backtracked slightly by adding auto top-up, and we’re also in the process of potentially adding customizable bet buttons. That doesn’t mean the strategy or focus on casual players has changed. Whenever we discuss a new feature, the first question raised is always “how will this impact the casual players”.
Where auto top-up was originally seen as something that could potentially help flag who’s a casual player, the reality turned out to be different. Regs got so used to clicking top-up instantly, when their stack got below 100bb, that adding the feature really didn’t change much in this regard. It however did reduce the number of clicks by many millions, and it makes for a more enjoyable experience for the regs.
A focus on casual players does not mean we want to make the life of a high-volume player insufferable. We strive to deliver an enjoyable experience for everyone.
Now you might be getting your hopes up, seeing as we’re strongly considering something like customizable bet buttons, so let me make it clear already: downloadable hand history is nowhere to be seen on the horizon.
Player stables and population tendencies
A player stable is essentially a group/organization that financially backs and supports (coaching, guidance, data sharing and more) professional poker players, in exchange for a share of their winnings. Stables really go against everything Unibet poker stands for, and we’re actively trying to prevent these from becoming an integral part of the product. This is no easy decision, as these groups can promise significant revenue for the product, which is also why other sites generally turn the blind eye or actively target such groups, by providing favourable terms to the associated players.
As an example of a step taken, to avoid stables, we’ve banned groups of players, that were actively “sharing the HU SNG lobby”: they’d take turns sitting in queue for games to start and rarely play against each other.
So why are we talking about stables here? Well, they’re the primary reason I’m very hesitant adding downloadable hand histories. A pre-requisite for a stable is generally that there must be proper tracking in place. By not offering hand history download, we almost completely erase ourselves from their “map of poker sites”.
In addition to the stables consideration, there’s also the fact that hand history download would make a big difference to the ability to extract and identify population tendencies: how are players on Unibet poker playing. This, on its own, is not a deal-breaker, but it certainly doesn’t speak for adding the feature.
Will we never see hand history download on Unibet poker?
Never say never. It’s not part of the roadmap for the next 12 months, and I’d also say it’s unlikely to be introduced on every game type, unless major changes outside of our control were to happen (regulatory changes and the like). It’s also worth stressing that when we are discussing hand history download, it’s not your regular hand export but a solution where:
- The download is delayed; you can’t download the data for current day.
- The data available is limited (you’ll never be able to get your complete data for a full year – this is primarily stables related).
- The history is completely anonymized. Even if we allow for alias changes, not everyone changes it frequently, and some never change at all.
My position is that I’m against adding the functionality for cash games and HexaPro, but I’m leaning towards adding it for MTT’s (where stables isn’t the same concern). Unfortunately, it’s no small project and with MTT’s being a small share of the total revenue, is it sensible to prioritize it over other important changes?