Five Rules Of Safe Mining Usage In Poker

#1 Buy Mining Only From Reputable Sellers

There are a lot of different kinds of sellers in the poker industry who gladly offer players hand histories mining. With that said, you still need to be cautious. 

Nor every seller offers quality mining and players can’t check the quality of information before buying it. That’s why you should always check website reviews, as well as the reputation of websites, players, or groups who offer a service. An even safer option would be choosing from a pool of partners of your verified affiliate.

For example, PokerListings has a partnership with StatName that sells mining through their side-project HandHistoryPoker (HIS Hands) that is verified and checked by poker pros.

#2 Do Not Try To Mine Hand Histories By Yourself

As we reminded earlier, poker operators do not like data-miners. Their security teams work hard to detect and punish people for mining different information from the game, especially on completely «green» platforms where any third-party software from table managers to trackers is prohibited.

So, if you do not want to risk your account, and not only in the room but in the whole network, you should discard any thoughts about trying to mine information by yourself.

#3 Use Mining Only For Studying Purposes

You shouldn’t use mining to gain an unfair advantage during your poker sessions. Simple as that. This is a tool for studying. A tool for self-improvement. This rule doesn’t have any exceptions.

Poker rooms are always on the lookout for players’ “seeking advantages”, but more than anything they simply do not like miners — and they punish them harshly. That’s why it’s in your best interest to keep everything above board, especially if you are planning to have a long and successful poker career.

#4 Run Studying Software Outside Of The Poker Session

Not only do poker operators not like mining — they also don’t feel good about poker solvers, calculators, trainers and other third party services that players use to study spots and coach themselves.

Rooms and websites also do not care about circumstances around simultaneous running of their software and studying tools. They can apply sanctions even for having some software system files in the background of the poker room’s lobby.

In this situation you don’t want to tempt operators to restrict their services for breaking their rules. That’s why we highly recommend never running any third-party software simultaneously with poker rooms’ lobby before checking their rules and regulations about specific tools and mining.

#5 Do Not Share Information About Mining Usage Publicly

Finally, it isn’t in your best interest to make your usage of mining public. Do not write about it anywhere, including Discord public servers, social media and poker forums. Especially, do not inform the online poker room or its support team — even if you experience some issues with hand histories you have. In the last situation the only party that you need to inform about related issues is the mining seller.

You can argue that without public discussion other players cannot know important information about sellers and their offers. While this is correct, but comes with a big but: no one can stop you from sharing your opinion and experience. However, you can do it without emphasizing where and how exactly you are using the bought data. So be careful with your wording in public spaces.